


Shining Star

by MusicalCatharsis



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-06 15:17:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12820329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicalCatharsis/pseuds/MusicalCatharsis
Summary: After discovering that Penelope will be spending Christmas alone, Luke invites her to spend the holiday with the Alvez family.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is lengthy. They will all be lengthy.

“Damn it,” Luke whispers as the elevator shutters to a complete stop, somewhere between floors five and four. His foot darts out to kick the doors in frustration. He pulls his phone from his back pocket, pressing the home button only for the screen to remain blank. “Damn it,” he repeats, louder the second time. Mentally chastising himself for forgetting to charge his phone.

“The elevator gets stuck all the time,” Penelope replies, looking up from her phone, her fingers tapping away. “I’ve texted Jack in Maintenance, he’ll have us out in no time.”

“I’m going to miss my flight,” he mumbles miserably as he leans against the opposite wall from the blonde woman.

“I can reschedule it for you, it won’t take long,” she tells him, waving her phone in his face. He nods, dropping his backpack to the floor and running his hands over his face. “Done, your flight now leaves at six in the morning.” She smiles up at him. “You should be able to make it before Christmas breakfast.”

“Thank you, Garcia,” he tells the woman, glancing at her with a wide smile. “What’re your plans for Christmas?” She shakes her head, turning her attention away from the man and back to her phone.

“I don’t…” she begins, her thumb scrolling slowly up her screen. “I just stay at home and watch old movies.” He watches her eyes, the slow blink they make as she tries to keep the tears at bay, and he finds himself wondering how this beautiful soul could be alone. He reaches into his back pocket, pulling his wallet out and sliding out his credit card, he hands it to the woman.

“Buy yourself a ticket,” he commands. “You’re coming with me.” Penelope shakes her head again, holding her hand up to deny the offer.

“I’m fine, really.” She locks her phone, tapping it against her left palm with her right hand. “I don’t need you to pity me, I’ve been alone for a long time, I don’t…” she trails off, looking up at him briefly.

“I don’t pity you, you’d be doing me a favor,” he tells the woman. “You’d save me from my Abuela asking when I’m going to bring a nice girl home.”

“This isn’t a rom-com, Newbie, I’m not going to pretend to be your girlfriend.” Luke laughs softly, shaking his head and coming to stand before her, his eyes glancing over the brooch she had pinned over her left shoulder.

“Little secret, I hate Christmas…you wouldn’t be alone and I wouldn’t be alone.” He whispers, taking her purse from her hand and placing it gently on the floor.

“Nobody hates Christmas,” Penelope mutters, blinking rapidly as she looks up into the brown eyes of the man standing before her. Flippantly she continues, “It’s impossible.”

“I do,” Luke whispers, his fingers lacing through hers. “This wouldn’t be pretend either,” he continues, leaning down to run his nose across her cheek. He smirks as he can hear her breath catch in her throat. Luke’s other hand slides into hers, and he raises them softly above her head, pinning them to the wall.

“Luke,” Penelope breaths, his mouth coming to hover over hers. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Trying to like Christmas,” he whispers, pressing his lips to her cheek, dragging his lips across her jaw and pressing another kiss to the corner of her mouth. The woman turns her head, capturing his lips with hers, as he grips her face between his hands. His mouth moves slowly against hers as he runs his thumbs over her cheeks. Sliding his fingers down her face and gripping her jaw, positioning her face so that he can have better leverage on her mouth. She gasps as he nibbles at her bottom lip, using the distraction to dip his tongue into her mouth with a chuckle. Penelope’s arms grab at his jacket, pulling him closer to her as he wraps his arms around her waist, lifting her up and settling her on his knee. His hands sliding up her thighs and pulling his lips away from her mouth to trail them down her throat.

The sound of the elevator moving jolts them apart and he looks over at her, taking in her plump lips and her heaving chest. Luke bends down to pick up his credit card off of the floor and hands it to the woman, telling her again to order another plane ticket. She continues staring at the man, his credit card hanging from her fingertips, her eyes asking a silent question.

“I wanted to,” he answers her, pointing to her dress “and mistletoe. Have you ordered that ticket yet?” She shakes her head, picking up her phone and typing on the keys as the elevator doors open. He follows her out of the elevator, picking up her purse and his backpack and shaking his head at the fast pace she was moving. She turns abruptly, shoving the card back into his chest.

“I’m not pretending to be your girlfriend,” she tells him, snatching her purse from his hand.

“No, I don’t expect you to pretend, Garcia.” He chuckles, following her to her car and opening the door for her. “I’ll follow you home so you can pack?” She nods her head, her right hand coming up to press against her still trembling lips. “It’s New York, in December, its cold.” He tells her chuckling, before closing the door and watching her glare through the window at him. Luke jogs to his car, plugging his phone in immediately as he prepares to follow Penelope out of the parking garage.


	2. Chapter 2

“You don’t have to follow me,” Penelope tells the other occupant of her apartment as she races into her bedroom. She begins to hastily pick up the discarded clothes she had strewn about that morning in her haste to get to work. “I can pack appropriate clothing for your family function.” She pauses at the warmth that flows through her when the sound of his chuckle fills the apartment around her. His deep voice vibrating off of her walls and bouncing around in her head. She’s not entirely sure how she is going to get through this entire weekend with him being the only person she was remotely comfortable with. Penelope sighs while walking back into the living room, forgetting that she was currently clutching a bright pink scrap of lace in her hands, in order to inform Luke that she would not be joining him after all. His eyes immediately zone in on the material, and she can’t help but wonder what he is thinking when his eyes visibly darken.

“My mother may object to you wearing just those,” Luke begins with a laugh, bringing a cup of coffee to his lips. Penelope looks over at him in confusion before shoving the panties behind her back with a deep blush.

“I can’t go,” she tells him while moving over to the couch and throwing herself into the cushions, absently tossing her arm over her eyes with a heavy sigh.

“You’re going,” Penelope growls tossing the lace at the man with a roll of her eyes. He catches them instinctively, the woman watches in horror as his tanned fingers close around her underwear. “Early Christmas present,” he asks with a smile as he waves the underwear in her face.

“Give those back,” she demands, holding out her hand with her palm exposed. She’s sure that the underwear the man was currently holding had been on her body a few days ago. It doesn’t escape her that Luke was holding her used panties like it was the most natural thing in the world, and if the man wanted to torture her with a weekend with people she didn’t know, then he could hold her dirty underwear. Usually, she would be embarrassed, but at this point in the morning, she was too tired to even care.

“Our flight is in four hours so you might want to finish packing before I pack for you,” he tells her, placing her underwear back into her palm.

“I don’t know anyone,” Penelope whispers, tucking her feet under her on the couch. “I can charm the pants off of anyone, honestly, but I’m exhausted Luke and this is the time that I usually lounge around and recharge my batteries.”

“So, you recharge in New York,” Luke tells her as he leans back into the cushions. He tosses his arm onto the back of the couch and tugs at the ends of her hair. Penelope glares at him out of the corner of her eyes. She vividly remembers the feel of his lips on hers as he pressed her into the wall of the elevator. Her thighs still tingled from the feeling of his hands dragging slowly across her skin. She lets out a small shudder, letting her body lean closer to him in the process of a large yawn. Her eyes are heavier than she ever remembers them, and the longer she lets herself sit on the couch near his warm body, the more energy seems to be slipping from her body. “Come on,” he continues. “I’ll help you pack and I promise to let you sleep on my shoulder for the entire plane ride.”

Penelope yawns again, letting her eyes close before speaking, “is only two hours, not enough sleep.” She feels his hand wrap around her shoulder and shakes her gently while whispering in her ear. The sweet aroma of Arabica beans fill her nostril as he runs the coffee cup under her nose and Penelope purses her lips, silently begging the man to press the cup to her mouth. She listens to his boisterous laugh, jerking herself out of her state of half-slumber at the sound, and glares at the man over the rim of her glasses. Snatching the cup from his hands and taking a long sip, Penelope places her feet on the floor and stands from the couch. She’s halfway back into her bedroom when she looks over her shoulder to see if he’s following her.

“You’ll want to bring church clothes,” Luke tells her as he breezes past her into her bedroom, his head brushing the top of the beaded curtain. “We have mass around nine and then Ma starts cooking when we get back around ten thirty or so.” Penelope nods, taking another sip of his coffee while walking over to her closet to pull the doors open wide. “And, we’re going to watch the ball drop outside so, warm clothes for that because it will be very cold that night.”

“I expect to always have a hot chocolate in my hands when I’m in this blistering cold, my California blood still hasn’t adjusted to these winters,” Penelope tells him as she filters through the dresses in her closet.

“My Abuela makes the best hot chocolate,” Luke tells her as she hands him a blue dress. “She melts down Belgian chocolate on the stove and adds milk, I literally crave it most winters. I can probably get her to make a large pot of it for you.” She tosses another dress out of her closet in his general direction, shouting out to him that that would be good. “I mean they’re all going to love you.”

Penelope stills with her hand around a pair of boots and sighs softly before turning back to the man. She takes the dresses from him and begins pulling them off of the hangers. Luke reaches out to take one of them, gently folding the material in order to fit in her small suitcase. “I’m sure I’ll love them too,” she whispers while folding another dress and a corresponding pair of tights. If Luke noticed her change in demeanor, he doesn’t show it as he continues folding her dresses.

“Abuela is going to hug you, and probably kiss you, and ask you how we met and how long we have been dating,” the man warns her. Penelope nods. “You don’t have to pretend to be my girlfriend, I’ll set them straight once we get there.” The shorter woman looks up at Luke with a soft shake of her head as she reaches out to grab another dress.

“You said yourself in the elevator that this wouldn’t be pretend,” she mutters. “We don’t have to put a label on anything just yet if you don’t want to, but if you’re interested -”

“I’m interested,” Luke interrupts her with a large grin, handing her another pair of boots. “Extremely interested in you, Chica.”

“Okay,” Penelope replies while glancing at him, a soft smile gracing her lips as she turns to grab clean undergarments for the weekend.

* * *

“Fair warning that Christmas is a big thing in my family,” Luke tells her as the taxi begins to pull away from the curb outside of LaGuardia. Luke tells the driver the address in Tremont, a small neighborhood in the Bronx. It was nearing eight thirty in the morning on Christmas Eve and all Penelope wanted to do was curl into a ball and sleep, but she would settle right now for laying her head on his shoulder and letting her eyes flutter shut.

“How big is big,” she asks, remembering back to when she was a child. Her father would spend days stringing lights from every surface of the house, both inside and out.

“You’ll see when we get there,” Luke tells her with a chuckle before pulling her closer to him with a sigh. Peeking up at the man she sees that he’s closed his eyes and rested his head against the window. For the first time this evening Penelope realizes that he was actively chasing down a serial killer before making this journey home. She settles herself against his chest, letting the fluttering of her heart take over for a moment, the adrenaline of being this intimate with him spurring her to stay awake.

“What type of house did you grow up in?” Penelope slides her right arm around his waist as she asks the question, letting her fingers curl around his toned hip. She can hear his soft breathing and flushes when his warm breath brushes across the top of her head.

“Brownstone,” he mutters, flexing the muscles in his arm in order to pull her closer to him as he sinks lower into the seat. “Three stories. My bedroom is on the top floor across from Michael’s,” he continues. “But I got the one with the skylight.” Penelope glances up to see the smirk on his face and lets a smile settle onto her lips.

“And Michael is…” she lets the question trail off as Luke opens his eyes to look at her. Penelope’s breath catches in her throat at the color his eyes become when the sunlight hits them. It’s captivating to her that the normally dark brown lightens up to a beautiful shade of mahogany, a red-brown color that causes her to lose her train of thought.

“My older brother,” Luke answers, letting his fingers slide down to her waist, settling onto the fabric of her dress lightly. “He should be arriving after us, with my two twin cousins in tow, Jacob, and Issac.” Penelope nods, rubbing her face against the soft material of his t-shirt. She can feel the sculpted muscles under the fabric and does everything in her power not to let out a whimper at the thought of feeling his bare skin under her fingertips. She watches as he points out of the window and lets out a small gasp at the sight of the house before her. There’s a large tree in the small front yard, decorated with lights and ornaments and a large bow sitting on the topmost branch and cascading down to the bottom. Each window on the first floor and there were three that she could see, had a large green wreath with a red bow hanging from it. The railings were done up with green garnish and lights which were all still on at close to nine in the morning.

“Luke,” she breathes, lifting her head off of his chest to look at him. “It’s beautiful!” Luke chuckles while paying for their ride and sliding out of the vehicle, making sure to help her onto the frozen snow. She was still wearing the heels she had been in for the past two days and Penelope watches the man roll his eyes. The woman takes a small step towards the trunk of the car, bracing herself for a fall, but finding that she can walk just fine. Luke reaches around her grabbing each of their bags and presses a kiss to her cheek before gesturing with her bright yellow suitcase to walk in front of him.

When they reach the top of the steps Luke takes out a set of keys, sliding them into the door quickly in order to get a now shivering Penelope out of the cold. The door opens before he can twist the key, a short woman with curly brown hair stands before them with a large smile on her face and her hands on her hips. She’s staring at Luke with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open slightly, and from what Penelope can tell…fresh unshed tears in her eyes.

“Luke James Alvez,” she begins while beckoning him into the house. Penelope didn’t realize how short the woman was until Luke stepped up onto the next step in order to wrap the woman in a tight hug, lifting her off of her feet and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Ma,” he returns the sentiment before placing her back on her feet, making sure that she was steady before turning back to the woman waiting on the doorstep. “I want you to meet Penelope Garcia.” He walks back to her and she follows his movement with her eyes, a wide smile never leaving her face from the display she had just witnessed. She lets him help her step into the house, much like he had helped her step off of the curb in Florida. Luke places their bags just inside of the door before reaching down to lace their hands together, presenting her to his mother.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Alvez,” Penelope tells the woman while removing her right hand from Luke’s grip to extend it to the woman. She’s silent for a moment as she observes the pair of them with wide eyes, and Penelope starts to get worried under the scrutiny. Is there something on my face? Penelope asks herself, trying not to reach up and wipe her skin, surely Luke would have told her if she had dried drool on her chin. Before Penelope can process what’s happening the smaller woman has wrapped her in a hug, her small hands patting the back of her head.

“Luke, baby, you didn’t tell me she was gorgeous,” the woman scolds her son, clicking her tongue against her teeth at the omission. “My name is Gabriella, you can call me Gabby, or Ma like the boys do.” She pulls away from Penelope, both of them glancing over at Luke. “Antonio, your son is here and he’s brought a girlfriend.”

“Michael always brings girlfriends, I’ll wait until they come here,” a deep voice shouts back. Penelope reaches behind her for Luke’s hand, dragging the man forward. She relaxes when his hand slides around her waist.

“No, Toi, Luke is home, and he brought a girlfriend,” the woman shouts back while turning herself to face the rest of the house. Penelope lets out a giggle at the sound of Luke’s voice whining after a loud bang that could be heard, and the quick sound of footsteps approaching.

“Gabby, did you say that Luke brought a girl…” the man’s voice trails off as he rounds the corner, taking in the sight of his son standing with his arms around Penelope’s waist. “It’s a Christmas miracle.” He gently pushes his wife out of the way before standing in front of Penelope with a wide grin. “What’s your name, young lady.”

“Penelope Grace, sir.” She stands straighter under his gaze and has the urge to salute the man.

“You must be something special,” he tells her while reaching out to shake her hand. “The only girl in Luke’s life that we got to meet is Roxy.” He whistles, and before Penelope can understand what’s happening the dog comes trotting into the room, racing past Luke’s parents to jump up onto him. “You can call me Toi, Penelope, it’s good to meet you.” Penelope nods as she reaches out to pet Roxy, bending at her knees to press a kiss to the top of her head.

“Lu, your brother, and cousins are coming so you and Penelope have to share your old bedroom,” Gabby tells him as she walks further into the house, whistling for Roxy to follow her. “I hope that’s okay.” Penelope watches Luke gulp before nodding at his mother.

“It’s fine, Ma,” he tells her before picking up their bags. “I’m going to give Penelope a tour.” Gabby waves her hands as she walks back into the kitchen, cooing at Roxy, and Penelope can hear her telling the pup that while she would always be her first grandchild, that maybe she can get some that talk. Roxy replies with a bark that makes Penelope giggle. She turns her attention back to Luke, watching as he walks into the living room.

“Through that door is the kitchen,” he points to the left of the living room where his mother had just disappeared through a swinging door. “This is the living room obviously and through that door is my father’s den, it’s mainly where he watches football and sleeps.” Penelope glances around the room, taking in the immaculate cream carpet and dark blue furniture. There is a tree settled far enough away from the fireplace to not be a safety concern with boxes of gifts piled underneath. “And back here is the half bath and dining room, which only gets used about twice a year.”

Penelope follows him up the stairs and listens as he points out the rooms on the second floor. “Straight ahead is my parent’s bedroom, the room on the left is my mother’s office and on the right is my father’s.” He turns left and she glances at the long hallway lined with pictures. “This room here is where Jacob and Issac stay, it’s always been their bedroom. And that door over there is the bathroom, we have one between the bedrooms upstairs.” She watches as he turns and opens a white door, leading to another staircase and follows him up. The stairs are lined with a dark carpet that feels plush under her shoes and she smiles at the familiar scent that reaches her. The stairs open up to a room lined with bookshelves with all sorts of boxed figurines from her childhood. She lets her mouth drop open at the large TV settled in one corner, her eyes roving over the numerous game systems and the corresponding shelves full of games.

“You total nerd,” she whispers, pushing on his arm as he continues walking past the room to the door on the right side. He pushes open the door to reveal a deep red bedroom with navy blue accents. A large bed is situated between two windows on the far end of the room on top of a navy blue rug. Above the bed is a large skylight that looks like it had been put in after the house was built, and she couldn’t wait to stare up at the night sky. There’s a small desk in the corner and she gravitates towards it, opening up her purse and setting her laptop down on the surface as Luke places their bags near the closet.

“I’ll sleep in the game room in one of the chairs,” he tells her. When Penelope looks back he’s drawing his hands down over his face with a yawn. Shaking her head she walks over to him and wraps her arms around his waist, laying her head on his chest and glancing at the bed. It had been a long while since she had shared a bed with anyone for actual sleeping, but the mattress looked big enough to house her wild limbs comfortably.

“It’s big enough to share,” she whispers before feeling some of the tension ebb it’s way out of his body. She lets her hands run up the length of his spine, before rubbing gently over the planes of his back. “You must be exhausted.” Luke nods, letting out another yawn as they hear a loud shout from the floors below them.

“Where is he?” Penelope glances up at Luke, watching the tired smile slip from his lips and be replaced with a wide grin. She listens to the thundering footsteps as he pulls her hands from around his waist, dragging her into the game room behind him. Peeking around his arm, she can see three heads racing up the stairs and thinking it wise to step back she does.

“LU!” A tall man with the same striking features as Luke reaches out to pull him into a hug, ruffling his hair as he does. Two shorter men who are almost identical save for their hairstyles and clothing choices pull the other men apart each taking their turn to clap Luke on the back and tell him how good it is to see them. “Guys, there’s a girl here and I’m not sure if I’m still drunk from last night…” he trails off, and Penelope can only assume that he must be Michael. “Jay, can you see her too?” Michael pushes Luke out of the way, the younger and shorter man stumbling at the sudden jolt. Penelope reaches up to cover her mouth with the laughter that threatened to bubble over.

“You are a vision,” Michael states, reaching out to pull her hand to his lips in an over exaggerated show. Penelope blushes at the attention, glancing over at Luke she notices the scowl on his face with interest. “What is your name gorgeous, and where did you come from?”

“Penelope and I’m the ghost of Christmas Past…” she tells him while reaching out for Luke. Michael steps in the way of his brother, blocking him from reaching Penelope with a playful glint in his eyes.

“And you came here with that loser,” Michael states, hooking his thumb over his shoulder at his brother. Penelope nods, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth and biting down softly. “No, he’s the runt of the litter you’re too pretty for that troll, let’s talk you and me.” Luke walks around his cousins in order to slide his hand around Penelope’s waist, pulling her to his side and glaring at his brother.

“Alright, that’s enough Mike,” Luke says slowly, his voice lower than Penelope can ever remember hearing it. She wonders to herself if this is the way he speaks to UnSubs when he’s interrogating them, it sends a chill down her spine and settles deliciously between her legs. She would have admitted her feelings for the man a long time ago if he had talked to her like that from the beginning.

“Ah, don’t get your panties in a twist, Lucy, we know she’s your girlfriend,” the twin with the long curly hair pulled back into a ponytail interrupts while reaching over to shake her hand. “I’m Jacob by the way, and these two have been fighting over everything their entire lives.” He explains pointing between the brothers. Penelope looks over at the other man, who was much quieter, his hair clipped short and his face cleanly shaven.

“You must be Issac,” Penelope says, reaching out to shake his hand. “It’s so nice to meet all of you.” She turns, looking back up at Luke with a wide smile.

“So, Penelope, tell us why Lucy here, of all the guys in the world,” Michael asks while tossing himself onto the large couch in front of the TV. Luke leads her over to the chair and she settles herself into it, flickering her eyes to his face as he settles himself onto the floor near her. His hands dart out to run up the length of her legs, and Penelope isn’t sure when the last time she shaved was. She decides not to be alarmed by it, her hair was extremely fine, and she would shave the next time she showered.

“Honestly, it’s brand new…” she tells them while looking down at the top of Luke’s head. He had always found a reason to touch her as of late, and his hand on her leg right now was no exception. It was a public and blatant display of possession, which is something that she would usually balk at, but she was too tired to care at the moment. “And he didn’t leave me much of a choice.” Reaching down she runs her fingers through his thick hair, feeling the strands slide against her palm.

“Where did you two meet?” Penelope glances up at Issac as he finishes his question, and she smiles fondly at the memory. She curls her fingers into his scalp, scratching softly as she begins to tell them the story.

“A few years ago thirteen serial killers escaped from prison, and my team was a man short, so my then boss got it into his head to hire this young hot shot to help us wrangle them up.” She laughs while glancing down at Luke. “I’m walking out of my office and see this guy stepping off of the elevator in a suit and tie, looking so uncomfortable, and I could tell because he kept scratching at his neck. Anyway, he had a chip on both of his shoulders, choosing to work alone instead of getting help from the rest of the team. About six months into him catching almost all of them he joined the team full time, I gave him hell for about a year and I still do from time to time, but he grew on me…like mold.”

“Hey,” Luke whines. “Not you too, you’re supposed to be on my side.” Penelope nods, continuing to scratch at his scalp. He leans his head against her knee with a soft sigh. “We’ve been up for about thirty-six hours, tell Ma that we’re going to get some sleep and we’ll be down in a few hours.” Luke stands from the floor and helps Penelope to her feet, pulling her body closer to his and planting a kiss on her lips in front his family. She blushes a deep red, slapping her hands on his chest and glaring at him.

“Goodnight,” she whispers to the others in the room, her eyes never leaving Luke’s.

“Don’t be too loud, Lu,” Michael teases as they walk away. Luke glances over his shoulder, flipping the man off before leading Penelope into his childhood bedroom and slamming the door shut to a round of laughter. Penelope peels her heels off of her feet before reaching behind her to unzip her dress. Glancing behind her she watches Luke pull his t-shirt over his head and toss it on the floor. Bending down she picks up the discarded shirt and slides into it before unhooking her bra and peeling it off. Penelope lets the rest of her dress slide to the floor and steps out of the material. She’s too tired to care about him seeing her undress at this point and she crawls into the bed and rests her head on the pillow.

“Goodnight, Lu,” she whispers while sliding her right hand under her cheek.

“I like the way that sounds coming from your lips,” he whispers back. She can feel the bed dip under his weight and scoots herself closer to him for warmth. She hears something clatter onto a table top and a soft rustling. She opens her eyes, watching as the skylight has a retractable blind closing the sunlight out of their faces.

“I like you,” she whispers before falling asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"Go away, Mike." The deep voice pulls her out of her slumber and for a moment Penelope can't remember where she is or why there is a heavy arm draped around her waist. There is a loud and persistent knocking at the door and an equally persistent string of curses falling from the lips of the person holding her underneath the warm blue blanket. Slowly, the events of the past day come back to her as she blinks the sleep from her eyes and reaches out for her glasses, bringing the blurry room into focus. Glancing down Penelope takes in the fact that not only is Luke's arm wrapped around her it had, in fact, slid under the soft material of his t-shirt and was resting on the small dip of her waist. She can feel him curl his fingers in frustration, the tips dragging lightly across her skin, and Penelope lets out an involuntary moan at the contact. "I'm sorry," he whispers, pulling his hand away from her and rolling onto his back on the mattress. Penelope tries to tell him that she doesn't mind the feeling of his arms wrapped around her, but she doesn't get the chance before the blankets are ripped off of her and Luke is pulling the door open in order to shout at his brother.

"Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Mike's voice is louder now that the door is open and Penelope is suddenly aware of her bare legs on display as sits up on the bed, pushing her hair out of her eyes in order to glance over at the brothers. Luke is standing only in a pair of sweatpants with one hand gripping the door and the other flat against the door frame while he looks at his brother. She takes a minute to study the both of them, the thick dark hair that curls wildly on their heads, the brown eyes that are so expressive without even trying, the well-defined jaws that both keep covered in dark stubble. Exhaling a loud breath, Penelope isn't entirely sure how she ended up here, sharing a bed with a perfect rendition of Adonis. "Ma said dinner is almost ready." Penelope watches as his eyes slide past Luke and land on her sitting up in the bed and she gives him a half-hearted wave before ducking her eyes with a blush. Luke, realizing what his brother was looking at pushes the other man out of the doorway and closes the door behind him.

The woman tries not to listen to the conversation on the other side of the door, but Luke's voice had a tendency to carry especially when he was angry. She slides out of the bed, remaking it quickly as she tries to ignore the rushed whispers of the men.

" _Don't even think about it," Luke's voice whispers harshly._

" _Think about what?" Mike replies with a laugh._

" _She's off limits," Luke continues. "Especially to you."_

" _Is this about Lisa?"_ Penelope glances up at the door before reaching for her suitcase and opening it on the floor.

" _Shut up, Mike," Luke growls._

" _Lu, it was almost ten years ago, I thought we were over this." Mike sounds like he's begging now._

" _I'm warning you, Mike."_

" _Bring your girlfriend down for dinner, Dani is here and Abuela is on her way..."_

When Luke enters the bedroom again he looks over at her, an apology rolling off of his tongue before she can tell him that one isn't necessary. Penelope finishes tossing her clothes onto the bed before standing up to look at him. Usually, she would approach her friends when they looked like they needed a hug, but she's not sure the type of comfort the man in front of her looked for from a friend or a partner.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Her voice sounds small even to herself, and for a moment she wishes that she could take the question back as she looks up at him. She hands him the black suitcase that was sitting near her yellow one, letting her fingers brush against his during the exchange.

"Lisa was my high school girlfriend," he tells her as he opens the bag. Penelope looks at his clothes folded so neatly that she thought they were brand new until her eyes fall onto the faded red shirt of his she was so fond of. "When I was at the Ranger Academy she and Mike started seeing each other and when I came back she broke up with me." Penelope stops gathering her hair into a loose ponytail in order to stare at the man. She lets a gasp slip from her mouth as she lets her hands fall to her lap, her palms slapping the skin of her thighs at the unfairness of his situation.

"Are you kidding me?" Her voice is harsher than she intended when she finally speaks to him. It's not that she can't fathom something like that happening to someone, because it happened every day, that she was painfully aware of. But the fact that someone had thrown Luke away so casually as if he was yesterday's trash, was causing her brain to hurt. Looking up at the man she watches him shrug before holding out his hand to help her to her feet. Penelope observes him bite at the inside of his bottom lip, his eyes darting across her face nervously before he reaches out to push her wild hair off of her face. She blushes at the intimacy of the action, ducking her head before wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry that she's an idiot, and I hope I don't have to meet her."

"No, she doesn't come around when I'm here." He tells her softly. Penelope can feel the rumble of his words in his chest before they escaped his mouth and she smiles widely at the sound of them. Looking up at him, he shakes his head before wrapping his arms around her in return. "I haven't seen her in over ten years. But, enough about people who no longer matter, let's get showered and ready for dinner because Dani is here and I think you're going to love her."

* * *

_"Wait," a feminine voice says over the din of other people talking. "Did you just say that Lu, the Lu who ran off to Arizona because of this idiot, brought a girl home? Like an actual girl and not a dog?"_

" _Yes, Dani, an actual girl," a male voice answers the question with a chuckle. "And you should see the way he looks at her. It's like how Uncle Toi looks at Aunt Gabby. The guy has stars in his eyes and we all know how he feels about stars."_

" _I don't believe you," Dani answers. "Lu has loved one thing these past few years and it's Roxy."_

" _I'm telling you, babe, he can't keep his hands or his eyes off of her," the male voice argues with Dani, clearly exasperated at not being believed. "I saw it with my own eyes, he basically wrapped himself around her legs earlier today."_

" _It's true, Dani," another voice enters the conversation as Penelope and Luke look at each other quickly before the man places his hand on the swinging door and enters the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, Penelope follows him with a bright smile._

"Will I be making the morning edition of the Alvez Gazette?" Luke asks while reaching behind him to drag Penelope closer. He tosses his arm around her waist and smiles down at her before introducing her to Dani.

"Pen, this is Danielle, but she hates being called that," Luke informs her. "She's dating Sac over there, and I don't know why because she can clearly do better." Penelope reaches out to shake hands with the woman. She was dressed in a pair of blue scrubs and her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. "Dani, this is Penelope."

"You're a real girl," Dani tells her with a wide smile before reaching out to hand her a wine glass. "Do you like red or white?"

"Red," Penelope answers with a warm smile, already deciding that she liked the woman. "If it makes you feel better I only really associate with him because of Roxy." Dani throws her head back and laughs loudly while clutching a bottle of wine to her chest. Penelope watches as Luke opens a beer for himself and takes a sip before gravitating back towards her. She's grateful for his presence, but the words that she overheard earlier continue ringing in her ears. She hadn't seen it before, but she does now. The fact that he had been finding any reason to stand near her for the past two years, the endless goading, the hand always on her shoulder or her back, it all made sense now. Penelope glances at him as he slides his hand around her waist and before she can stop herself she's leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Shit, Sac, you weren't lying," Dani says when she stops laughing and pours a generous amount of wine into Penelope's cup. "Wait until Beni gets here, she's going to flip." Penelope quickly looks up at Luke, fear laced in her eyes and he smiles before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Don't worry about it." Luke leans down to whisper in her ear. "Just be yourself and drink your wine." His hand comes up to tilt her glass to her face with a wide smile. "I'll protect you." Penelope nods and takes a small sip from the glass.

"Lu, help me set the table," Gabby sticks her head through the door, passing a smile to Penelope before walking away. She doesn't realize it until his hand is no longer around her waist, but his presence was comforting when surrounded by people she doesn't know.

"So, Sac..." Penelope begins, taking another sip of her wine. "How did you come about that nickname?" There's a loud chorus of laughter that reaches her ears as his brother doubles over at the question. Her eyes dart between Jay and Mike, who was also laughing, and then back to Issac.

"Lu didn't tell you?" Mike questions her, coming to stand in the space his brother had just vacated. She tries not to flinch when he tosses his arm around her shoulder. Penelope finds that what she really wants to do is push his arm off of her and race off to find Luke, but she remains still, waiting for the answer to her question. She shakes her head before looking around the room while bringing her glass of wine to her lips again. The cool liquid splashes against her lips, and if she wasn't wearing lipstick, Penelope was sure that it would stain her lips. "Sac got his nickname because he was always getting hit in the balls," Mike tells her with a loud laugh.

"So crass I should wash your mouth out with soap." Penelope looks up to see a tall and slender woman in the doorway. Her gray hair was cropped short and styled elegantly. She was wearing black dress pants and a crème colored sweater with a gold scarf tied around her neck. A simple pair of pearl earrings adorned her ears and a warm smile was spread across her lips. Penelope watches as she walks around the kitchen, pressing a kiss to the cheeks of first Jay, then Sac, and finally Dani before coming to stand before Michael. "Well, are you not going to introduce me to your girlfriend?"

"Abuela, this is Penelope," Michael says quickly, trying to shush the outbursts that the other people in the room were about to say. Penelope reaches out to shake hands with the woman, glaring at Michael as she did so.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," Penelope says with a smile, shrugging the arm off of her shoulders. She was trying her hardest not to be rude, but Luke's brother had an underhanded way of going about things and it wasn't sitting right with her. "But I'm not here with Mike, I'm actually here with Luke."

"Beni, dear, call me Beni," the woman tells her with a wave of her hand. "I'm sorry but did you say that Luke brought you home?" Penelope nods her head, quickly taking another sip of her wine in order to have something to do.

"Yes, ma'am, Beni...we uh, work together." Penelope watches as Beni's eyes light up, her smile widening across her face.

"You're the Penelope," she whispers. "The one he talks about." Penelope blushes, ducking her eyes under her long lashes in order to look down at her glass. It was nearing empty and Dani responded to an unanswered question, reaching out to pour more liquid into the glass. "It's so nice to finally meet you. And you," she says turning to Mike. "I'm not going to lose my grandson again because you can't keep your hands to yourself." Beni links her arm with Mike's and guides him out of the swinging door and Penelope relaxes, bringing the glass of wine to her lips once again, and drinking quickly.

"She scared me the first time I met her too," Dani says with a chuckle. "I take it from the way you relaxed that you know about Lisa." Penelope looks at the woman and nods, not entirely trusting herself to speak. "It wasn't pretty around here during that time, Lu came home to pack his stuff, punched Mike a few times and left and nobody saw him again for a few years."

"That must have been hard," Penelope mutters darkly.

"For Lu, definitely, but he smiles around you which is rare." Dani takes another sip of her wine. "You're the first girl he's brought home since her, in fact, you may be the first girl he's dated."

"No pressure, right?" Penelope says with a chuckle while swirling the red wine in her glass. "It's new, like brand new, we've been dancing around each other for two years and he kissed me just yesterday for the first time."

"No shit," Dani replies. "It doesn't seem new, not to any of us at least." Penelope lets out a deep breath before taking another sip of her wine and looking over at the twins.

"How long have you and Issac been dating?" Penelope glances at Dani out of the corner of her eye, before flicking her eyes to the window in order to watch the snow fall.

"About ten years," Dani replies with a soft smile. "We met at NYU when he was going for his MBA and we've been inseparable ever since." The woman pulls her phone out of the pocket of her scrub top and shows Penelope a picture. "That's us with my two cats, Cheech and Chong." Penelope lets out a giggle before pulling her phone out of her bra.

"This is Sergio, I share custody of him with our boss," Penelope tells the woman before glancing over her shoulder. The sound of the swinging door opening alerts her to another presence in the room. She smiles warmly at Luke as he enters the room. His hand slides up her back as he walks past her in order to grab cutlery from the drawer and he presses his lips to her forehead on his way back out.

"Yeah," Dani says with a smile. "There's nothing new about that."

* * *

"You don't have to do the dishes," Luke says as he reaches for a dish towel. Penelope shrugs her shoulder, looking at him with a smile.

"We slept through making dinner, it's the least I can do," she replies with a loud yawn. She would never admit it to anyone, but the repetition of dragging the cloth over the dish was soothing to her. Penelope knew, for a fact, that Luke was unaware of the stunt his brother had pulled earlier in the day, and she was debating if she was going to tell him. It had to have been hard for him back then, knowing that the woman he loved had fallen in love with his brother, and Penelope didn't ever want to bring up those feelings for him again.

"My mother is going to adore you forever," Luke tells her with a laugh. Penelope smiles wide at the man, but she can tell by his facial expression that it doesn't reach her eyes. Sighing, she turns her attention back to the dishes in the sink, picking up another plate and scrubbing it. Luke reaches his hands into the soapy water, prying the dish from her hand and turns her to face him. "What's going on?"

Penelope shakes her head while pulling her bottom lip into her mouth before saying, "nothing. We should probably finish these up, I'm almost done." Glancing over her shoulder Penelope sees that there is only a few dishes left stacked on the island behind her and asks Luke to relocate them to the sink for her. She spends her time carefully cleaning each dish before draining the sink and clearing out the drain. Helping Luke dry and put the dishes away, Penelope remains silent until the last cabinet is closed.

"For future reference, there's a dishwasher," Luke tells her with a chuckle. Penelope nods, her eyes falling back to the yard and the snow falling softly. "We can watch a movie with my parents, or we can go back to sleep, or we can grab our coats and go outside." She smiles softly before turning her attention back to the man, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of venturing into the snow. "Come on," he mutters while holding his hand out to her.

The snow is soft under her boots as they walk along the street Luke grew up on, the man pointing out landmarks from his childhood as they went. Penelope watched as his face lit up when he talked about playing basketball at the local court with his brother and his cousins, about the penny candy they would purchase from the store that is now a barber shop to the rush he would feel when he would play baseball. He admits to her that his dream was always to become a professional baseball player, but that all changed when he enlisted in the Army after his first year in college. He spends his time pointing out the family church they would congregate at in the morning and how close it was to Beni's house. She wasn't sure how long they had been walking when they come to a school and Luke gets a faraway look in his eyes. Penelope pauses, gripping his hand tighter in her own to let him know that she was still with him, as she waits for him to come back to the present.

"I was going to ask her to marry me when I got back," Luke whispers, before looking down at her. "But when I arrived home she told me that she had fallen in love with Mike and that it was over between us. When he got home from work that night I asked him about it, and he told me that he didn't love her, that he couldn't because how can you build a life with a girl that slept around on his brother. And then he told me that he was doing me a favor." Luke sighs, and Penelope reaches up to fix the gray hat he had pulled over his head when they left the house earlier.

"I'm sorry that that happened to you," she whispers, letting her fingers trail down his coat.

"I'm not," he replies while licking his lips. "Because if I had married her, I'd be living here. I'd have never joined the FBI and I'd have never met you." Penelope blushes, glancing down at her feet. She feels his gloved fingers on her chin before he tilts her face up towards his. "I know there was a lot of tension today because of her, but she's gone forever, and I don't think about it as much as I used to. If that's what has you so down today, you have nothing to worry about Chica, because I'm in this with you." Luke leans down to press a kiss to her lips and Penelope savors the feeling of his mouth against hers in the falling snow. There's something so peaceful about it compared to the heady passion that comes with kissing in the rain. Luke pulls his lips from hers and leans his forehead against her own with a soft smile, opening her eyes Penelope can see that both of his are still closed.

"It's not that," she whispers, reaching up to touch his right cheek. She drags her thumb across his cheek with a sigh. "I'm glad I met you, Luke, and that we're here and that we're trying this. And I know we haven't talked about anything regarding us since you kissed me in that elevator and told me it's what you wanted to do. But I need to know if I'm your girlfriend or your co-worker, or if you just want to sleep with me and never talk about it again?" Luke lets out a low laugh, his eyes flying open to connect with hers.

"Oh, Chica, you wouldn't be here with me if you were just a co-worker, or if I just wanted to sleep with you," Luke whispers. "If you'll have me, I want to be with you. Not just for this weekend, or tonight. I can't promise you forever but know that I want to."

"So, no secrets then," Penelope whispers, her breath coming out of her mouth in a puff of white air. Luke shakes his head.

"No secrets," he repeats back to her.

"Then I should tell you that your brother tried to let your grandmother believe that I was his girlfriend today." She rushes the words out before she can lose her nerve, her heart beating wildly in her chest at Luke stiffens in front of her. He presses a kiss to her forehead before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and before Penelope can process what is happening he is leading her back to the house. Wisely, she remains quiet for the entire walk, calmly takes off her boots and coat and follows him up the stairs when they return to the house.

"I'll be right back," he tells her before exiting the bedroom and Penelope can hear him banging on the door across the room. Thinking back on it as she sits in the center of the bed with her legs crossed under her, Penelope wonders if she should have waited until they were back in the capital before divulging this information to her boyfriend. She pulls her phone from her bra again and sends a quick text message to Derek, inquiring if he was still awake, while she waits for Luke to return. Deciding to put on her pajamas while she waits, Penelope takes her time walking around the bedroom, looking at all of the trophies and pictures she didn't see before in her exhaustion.

When Luke does return, Penelope has her laptop propped open on her lap, her fingers are tapping on the keys but not typing anything and she is trying to talk herself out of researching Luke's ex-girlfriend.

"Everything okay?" She asks, not taking her eyes off of the computer screen. Luke silently gets ready for bed before pulling the laptop from her grip and closes it. Penelope watches as he opens the skylight and slides into the bed, beckoning for her to move closer to him. He points up at the night sky, trying to identify any stars that manage to show through the bright lights of the city.

"Everything is fine," he tells her softly. "We have a heart to heart and he should have gotten the message." Penelope turns her face to look at the man and waits for him to look back at her. He presses his lips to hers quickly, before turning his attention back to the sky. "It was a good first day as a couple," he whispers.

Nodding, Penelope settles her head on his bare chest, letting her arm slide across his abdomen and curl around his hip. Luke wraps his right arm around her shoulder while sliding his left under his head. Penelope makes a note to ask him why he positioned his bed directly under a skylight in the morning as she closes her eyes and falls asleep with a smile on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

Her face was hot under the rising sun from the skylight that was left open when as they fell asleep. Luke had wrapped himself around her throughout the night, much like he had during their nap the day before. His hand had slid underneath the thin tank top she had worn to bed, and even though it was only the second time they had slept together, she knew that his hand on the bare skin of her stomach was going to be a ritual. Penelope groans as the vestiges of sleep flee from her mind and her eyes open on their own. Nothing mattered to the woman right now, well nothing mattered more than the feeling of the man's hand sliding across her stomach in his sleep, his thumb connecting with the underside of her heavy breast. The tingling that started between her legs caused the woman's breath to catch in her throat and she's not sure what to do in the moment.

"Luke," Penelope mutters quietly, not wanting to wake him if he was still sleeping. She wasn't sure if it was the warmth on her face or the roaming hands that eventually dragged her from slumber, but she's not too upset about the latter. Luke groans softly, dragging her closer to him on the bed by sliding his right arm under her body and placing his face in the tangled mass of her hair. Her eyes fall onto her glasses sitting on the bedside table and wonders if she can reach them with her toes. "Roxy..."

"Doggy door," he mumbles while pushing her hair out of the way with his nose and pressing a kiss to the side of her neck. "Big backyard, she's happily running." Penelope rolls her eyes, knowing that the girl was used to morning runs through trails. Over bushes and around trees, her little paws slapping against the forest floor and the sound of birds flapping overhead, she wasn't used to fences and small yards in which to get her exercise. Neither, for that matter, was the man holding her close to him.

"But it's not her routine," she tries again, pulling herself away from his embrace enough to attempt to reach her glasses. Luke's arms flex around her, effectively snapping her back to his chest, as his left-hand runs across her stomach again.

"I want to stay here," he whispers, letting his fingers slowly drum against her hip. Penelope nods slowly, licking her lips and settling back into his embrace. She finds that she wants nothing more than to stay in this bed with him as well, and the thought scared her just a bit. This was all too sudden, too soon, too quick. But, she thinks to herself, they had known each other for close to two years, building a solid friendship before even attempting anything romantic, was it really too soon? "You're gorgeous in the sunlight."

"You clearly need my glasses more than I do," Penelope laughs, turning her body in order to look at him. The sunlight falling on his features strikes her speechless. The woman isn't sure how she had ignored him for so long, filing him under _do not touch_ in her mind. His hair is a lighter brown in the stream of sunlight, his eyes are warmer then she had ever seen them, and his mouth is pulled wide across his face as he looks down at her.

"My eyes are perfect. You are gorgeous and I want to spend all day kissing you." He leans down to press his lips to her mouth. She watches as Luke's eyes slide shut and Penelope finds herself stiffening in his embrace, her mind racing at the thought of not having brushed her teeth yet that morning. She peels her lips away and ducks her head into his chest. "I was enjoying that, woman," Luke chastises her, ducking his head to try and capture her lips again.

"I have morning breath." Her voice is muffled as she speaks into his chest and she can feel him laughing rather than hear it as the blood rushes to her face. Keeping her eyes closed she sinks lower in the bed, pulling the blankets above her head and wrapping her arms around his waist. Penelope lays her head against his stomach as he rolls onto his back, and her eyes widen when they adjust to the darkness surrounding her. In a second she realizes that she may have made a mistake as she stares down at the erection straining against his sleep pants. She takes a few moments to study him, seeing his member bob against the material of the pants as he chuckles again while reaching through the blankets to try and tickle her. Penelope yelps and finds herself scrambling back up from under the blankets, her cheeks red and her eyes shining brightly. When she breaks free of the blankets, Penelope sits upright in the bed and places her face in her hands.

"Penelope?" His voice had lost the playfulness from earlier, instead taking on a concerned tone as he too sat up on the bed and turns to her. "Are you okay?" She nods her head, keeping her face shielded from him as she does. It's not that she doesn't find him attractive because anyone would just by looking at the man. "What is it then?" Luke reaches out to pull her hands from her face and she hopes that he can't see the red tint to her entire face.

"You're...you," she whispers after a few moments of silence. "And I'm...me." Luke shrugs his shoulders as he leans back against the headboard. Penelope lets him pull her onto his chest. The woman curls herself into him, making sure to hide her face from his gaze.

"I don't even know what that means, Chica," he tells her. His right-hand runs across the top of her head, smoothing her hair back from her face before running down the length of her spine. Penelope sighs deeply, her breath brushing across his bare chest and rolls her eyes.

"You're this..." her hand comes up to wave around his stomach. "And I'm this." She moves her hand frantically above her head causing the man to let out another loud round of laughter.

"I'm still confused," Luke replies before brushing his fingertips across her hip, causing goosebumps to erupt on the expanse of skin that was exposed between the hem of her shirt and the top of her pants. Penelope can feel him drawing a design on her skin, her fingers looping slowly and dragging her top higher up her back as he goes. "But I can tell you that I think you are breathtaking any time of the day. I can tell you that I am insanely attracted to you, both physically and mentally. I can also tell you that you cause me to lose my train of thought and that falling asleep next to you has kept my nightmares at bay," he whispers. Penelope can feel the heat of his eyes staring at the top of her head, or was that just the heat from the sunlight, she's not entirely sure. "You make me happy."

"I do?" Luke laughs as her small voice squeaks up to him, and she finds herself slapping at his bare chest.

"Yes, you do," he tells her softly as he cups her chin with his left hand and lifts her face to his. "Now can I go back to kissing you?" Penelope nods, this time letting her eyes shut as he presses his lips to hers and grips her waist tightly. Her fingertips are softly trailing along the valleys of his abdominal muscles. She sighs into the kiss, letting her hands familiarize themselves with his upper half, scratching her nails through his beard and trailing them along his neck which causes the man to hiss and grip her hips tighter. Penelope repositions herself, kneeling next to the man on the bed and leaning over him in order to continue their kiss. His hands slide from her waist to cup her thighs, and he takes his time in settling her knees on either side of his waist. Letting out a small moan, Penelope sinks herself into his lap, her eyes rolling behind her closed lids as she presses herself against his erection. Luke trails his hands up the curve of her bottom, gripping each cheek before giving them a light tap as he continues running his hands up her spine. Penelope runs her fingers through his thick hair as he bites her bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth as she gently yanks his head back against the headboard. She can feel his hands roaming her backside, applying pressure so that she can slide across his lap, and she hisses as his erection comes into contact with her clitoris through their clothing. He slides his hands up to her back, letting them glide under her shirt, and Penelope sucks in a deep breath in preparation for his hands to finally cup her bare breasts.

"Luuuuu, oh-oh _, I'm sorry,_ _"_ the bedroom door opens and slams closed in quick succession, the person on the other side continuing to shout their apology through the closed wood. Penelope ducks her head, cradling it in Luke's neck and lets out an embarrassed groan as his hands quickly vacate her skin. She turns her head and places a kiss on his cheek as the man growls.

"Don't you people knock?" He shouts, and Penelope rolls herself off of him and pulls the nearest pillow over her face. She was sure that the bed would open up and swallow her at any moment, and she's not sure if she would welcome the end of her life, or if she would hold onto the edges to be able to kiss the man again. Penelope can feel his weight shift off of the bed, as for the second day in a row they are disturbed during a small frame of time they got to share alone together. Her body was standing on high alert as he waits a few seconds before opening the door, and she knows that he was just as aroused as she was. His being evident, and not able to hide so quickly as her own.

Once again Penelope can hear Luke conversing with the person on the other side of the door, and today she doesn't even pretend that she's not listening.

" _Good morning to you too, Shai," Luke's gruff voice hisses. "Don't you know how to announce yourself?"_

" _I thought they were joking," a breathy voice replies. "You know about there being a girl in your room, I figured you'd be in there with Roxy."_

" _You didn't get the family paper this morning," Luke laughs, and Penelope can imagine him leaning against the door with his arms across his chest, a wide smile spread across his lips. "I've gone ahead and got myself a girlfriend and brought her home with me, now please..." His voice is strained, begging the person to leave them alone._

" _No can do, my favorite cousin-in-law," the woman responds with a laugh. "Daphne and Damien are here and they want to see their Uncle Luke before Church."_

" _Shit," Luke's voice growls. "I forgot about Mass."_

" _Beni is already there, with seats saved and she's told the entire parish about your girl, so you should warn her."_

" _Are you enjoying this? Don't you have children to tend to?" Luke asks. "I've got to go get dressed."_

" _I want to meet her," Shai shouts as Luke opens the door._

" _You will," Luke tells her as he enters the bedroom and closes the door._

Penelope lifts the pillow off of her face and raises herself up onto her elbows to stare at the man.

"I'm sorry about that," he tells her as his eyes roam her body. "I'll lock the door tonight." He looks over at the clock and rolls his eyes before walking over to her and pressing his lips to her forehead. "But we have to get ready for Church, Ma and Abuela will never forgive me if I'm not there, do you mind?" His left-hand runs up her leg and leaves the woman shivering from his touch. "You can have the first shower."

"Lu, I don't mind," Penelope calls out as she sits up on the bed. "Merry Christmas."

* * *

Penelope finds herself sandwiched between Luke and a small girl with long brown hair, plaited into a french braid and tied off with a blue bow at the bottom. She was dressed in a pair of navy blue tights with a dark blue dress layered over them. In Penelope's hands, she held a red book, which the girl whispered to her an explanation that it was, in fact, a hymnal. The girl opened her own book to the correct page and handed it to Penelope with a wide smile. She beckons with her hand, silently asking Penelope to lean down to her level. Complying, the older woman does and smiles as the child whispers into her ear, "Don't worry, you can pretend, I won't tell."

Smiling as she stands back up and glances up at her boyfriend who was watching the interaction with interest. Luke turns back to the front of the Church, his mouth reciting the song from memory as his hand slides around her waist. She had to admit that she was severely impressed considering all the services he must have missed with their job. Penelope looks back down at the hymnal, trying to find her place but not knowing which of the lines they were reading from. Luke reaches out to point halfway down the page for line three. Opening her mouth, Penelope begins to sing along with the rest of the parish. She follows closely along for the rest of the service, liking especially when the small girl stood on the pew in order to give her a hug.

For her first time in a Catholic Church, Penelope felt oddly at home, especially around so many unfamiliar faces. Luke kept his hand firmly on the small of her back as they slowly filed out of the Church and into the cool air of a December morning. He walked with her off to the side so as to remain out of the way of the other people exiting the building. The woman shivers as a gust of cool air hits them when they stand off to the side and chuckling, Luke unravels his scarf, and tosses it around her neck and tying the ends together.

"I did tell you that it was going to be cold," he tells her after shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat while looking down at her. Penelope rolls her eyes, scrunching her face into the warmth of the scarf and inhaling his cologne. She steps closer to the man with a smile and lifts herself up to press a kiss to his cheek before darting back into the safety of the scarf. He laughs again and leans down to press his lips to the tip of her nose, which she wasn't sure she would ever feel again.

"Yeah," Penelope mutters back to him with a glare. "But you also promised that I would always have hot chocolate in my hands." Luke smiles, his head lifting to look behind her as he hears his name being called. Penelope watches as his face falls when he recognizes the person yelling out for him. She turns around to stare at the tall woman weaving her way through the crowd in order to get to him. Penelope can see long brown strands of hair peeking out from underneath a blue hat. Her large brown eyes were covered in dark eye makeup that seemed too messy to have been recently applied. Penelope doesn't express her shock as Luke wraps his arms around her waist and turns her away from the person.

"Seriously, Lu," the woman says, coming to stand in front of them. "You're going to pretend like you don't even see me?" Penelope's eyes dart up to study the woman's face with her thick eyebrows, large lips, tanned skin in the middle of December, and the frown currently gracing her otherwise beautiful face.

"No," Penelope glances up to see Dani racing over with a woman of equal height and long caramel hair holding a small boy on her hip. "Definitely not." Penelope begins looking at the four other people, trying to piece everything together. Glancing up Penelope can see the worried expression on the faces of the rest of Luke's family. And when she feels the stiffening of Luke's arms around her waist and the dark expression he was wearing, Penelope finally puts the pieces together.

"Lisa, I take it?" She says to the woman. Peeling herself out of Luke's embrace; she holds her hand out for her to shake. "It's nice to meet you, honestly. However, you're making a lot of people uncomfortable so maybe it would be best if you left?"

"Nicer than I would've said it," Dani mutters, glaring at Lisa.

"But it works just as well," the unidentified woman mutters back. Penelope recognizes her voice from earlier in the day and smiles at her softly.

"I'm not going anywhere until he talks to me," Lisa spits at Penelope, her eyes narrowing as she looks back up at Luke. Penelope lets out a small huff of air, her usual smile sliding off of her face as she glances up at Luke who was now checking his watch and sliding his arm back around her waist. He smiles down at her and pushes a loose strand of hair off of her forehead before turning his attention back away from the women surrounding him.

"My name is Penelope by the way," she replies as she ignores the woman's statement. "I'm Luke's girlfriend and he's doing great. Thanks for asking. But it's Christmas morning and we've just come from a lovely service and have several things to do today with the rest of the family, so if you'll excuse us." She moves to step around the woman and is determined to drag her boyfriend with her.

"I don't care about your name," the other woman replies, and Penelope lets the smile slip from her face completely. She's not used to such hostility from a person, and it takes her a moment to acclimate herself to the woman's attitude.

"Don't talk to her that way," Luke growls. For the first time since he had turned away from her, he turns his eyes to his ex with a hard glare. "Now that I've spoken to you, please leave."

"I want to talk about Charlie, Luke." Penelope darts her eyes to the other women in the circle, each of them wearing the same confused look that she was. Dani looks over at who Penelope assumed was Shai, and shrugs her shoulders. Luke looks down at Penelope and motions with his hands for her to walk in front of him. She can hear him clearly when he utters his next words.

"Then go talk to his father." Penelope waits for him a few paces away, looking up at him with a concerned smile as they walk away from the women, Dani and Shai following behind them. Luke doesn't stop near his family, instead muttering to his mother that he will see them at the house. Silently, she continues walking with the man, gripping his hand in her own as he walks swiftly away from the Church. After a few moments, he stops and turns to her stating, "Charlie is her son."

"I gathered that," Penelope mutters with a half-hearted smile. She places her hands on his chest and tilts her face up to his. She's not sure that she should ask the next question, but the burning curiosity gets the better of her as she mumbles, "Who's the kid's father?" Luke reaches up to rip the hat off of his head, shoving it in his pocket before returning his hand to his hair, running his fingers through the mussed strands.

"Mike," he admits eventually. "Or, that's what she says."

"And nobody knows according to Dani and Shai's faces?" Luke shakes his head before running his hands over his face with a frustrated sigh.

"Just Mike, her, and me...and now you, because no secrets right?" He says, looking down at her with a sad smile.

"Right," Penelope replies. "But there are going to be questions now, especially after that display."

"I know, and you may learn more about my family this weekend than you or I planned on," he warns the woman. Luke pulls her closer to him by hooking his fingers into the scarf and presses a kiss to her lips. Penelope wraps her arms around his neck, kissing him back. Peeling his lips from hers, Luke leans his forehead against Penelope's before muttering, "In case that was the last kiss I ever get from you."

"It won't be our last," Penelope mutters to the man, lifting her fingers to trail along his face. "Not even close, Lu."

"I really love the sound of my nickname when it rolls off of your tongue," he tells her quickly while tilting her head back and pressing his lips to hers again.

* * *

"So you mean to tell us that you two met at work?" The woman who Penelope was officially introduced to, and who turned out to be Shai, exclaims. She reaches out to hand presents to both of the small children, who Penelope has come to find out are Daphne and Damien.

"Yes," Luke replies with a roll of his eyes. "The Bureau is pretty large you see, and they let all kinds of people work there." He leans forward to grab a present that he had produced from the closet when they got back to the house and tosses it across the room to his father. Penelope looks up from the floor where she was sitting with Roxy in her lap, the dog crawling into it the second the woman sat down and crossed her legs. She was running her fingers through the soft fur of her belly, and Roxy had fallen asleep several minutes ago.

"Okay, Lu Bear, no need to be so sarcastic," Shai laughs and tosses a small package to him. Penelope watches as they throw wrapped packages to each other, trying their best to avoid collisions in mid-air. "Penelope, how about you tell me how you two met?"

"We called in _the best in the Fugitive Task Force,_ or so my boss said," Penelope tells her with a wide smile. "And then this guy walked in talking about lasagna and a girlfriend named Roxy that absolutely adored him." She finishes her sentence to a loud chorus of laughter from the other people in the room and watches as Daphne jumps up from her place on the floor and hugs Luke.

"It's okay, Uncle Luke, you found Simba for me so I know you're the best," she whispers, causing the other people in the room to burst into laughter again. She glares at the adults in the room over her shoulder with a pout on her lips.

"But, he was a great addition to the team even if I gave him a very hard time, especially after I met Roxy. But he was really good about it, and he just became part of the family," Penelope finishes, smiling up at him.

"So that explains how he became a part of the team," Dani speaks up, looking over at Issac with a mischievous grin.

Issac looks up at Penelope with the same grin and finishes the question, "but how did you two come about?"

Penelope looks up at Luke, heat creeping into her cheeks as she glances around the room. She's not sure that she's ready to share the fact that she didn't have a family of her own, not wanting to ruin the day with the tale of her deceased parents, especially not when they were going to be throwing a wrench into the day shortly. She glances down at Roxy with a soft smile, choosing instead, to begin with, the kiss in the elevator a few days ago.

"We got stuck in the elevator at work, which is where he annoys me the most," she begins to tell the story, a large smile on her lips as she looks around the room. "And as you can see my wardrobe is pretty eclectic considering where we work, but it helps with the horrors I see on my computer screens every day. But a few days ago I was wearing a dress with mistletoe on it and this guy," she points to Luke. "Just sort of kissed me and told me that I was coming with him this weekend. I didn't really have a chance to tell him no before he was following me to my apartment and making me board a plane with him."

"It was actually more romantic than she explains it," Luke begins. "I had spread out flowers in the elevator and asked her on bended knee to accompany me to this lovely castle to meet all of you." He turns to Daphne and winks at the girl. "Because Princesses should only fall in love with people who are nice and treat their partners with love and respect. But, the Prince, _that's me,"_ he whispers to Daphne. "Whisked the Princess off of her feet and kissed her very appropriately _after_ asking her to accompany him on this lovely excursion. And of course, the Prince followed her home, he had to make sure the Princess got home safely because that's what good Princes do." Penelope and the other adults in the room look at the man with wide eyes, and Penelope lets out a loud bark of laughter, causing Roxy to open her eyes and stare up at the woman.

"That's a bit too dramatic to actually be true," Penelope announces to the room.

"So, Uncle Luke you just kissed her and she just became your girlfriend?" Daphne asks with wide eyes. Luke shakes his head at her.

"Well no, it wasn't exactly like that," he mutters, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. The man glances around the room, taking in the amused expressions of the other people.

"No, Daphne," Penelope tells her with a smile. "He uh, told me that he was interested while we were packing up my suitcase, and then we talked about it some more last night. So, sometimes it just happens and other times there are conversations."

"That's confusing," the eight-year-old mutters before walking back to her small pile of presents. "I don't ever want a girlfriend or a boyfriend." Jacob lets out a laugh, leaning into his wife and whispering _let's hope it stays that way,_ before turning his attention to his son. Luke reaches into his bag one last time, tossing a present onto Roxy and telling her to open it later in a whisper. Penelope looks up at the man with a smile before reaching behind her back and producing the gift she had purchased months ago when she got the presents for the rest of the team. He looks at her in surprise, mouthing a thank you before turning back to his family.

"Very confusing," Mike whispers, letting his eyes dart back and forth between Penelope and his brother, his face pulling into one of confusion. Penelope looks up and makes eye contact with the man, giving him a small smile before turning her attention back to the dog in her lap.

"So," Toi speaks up finally, looking between his son and Penelope. "Are any of you going to tell us what Lisa wanted today?" Penelope glances up at Luke who has frozen on the edge of the couch, his fingers gripping the present she had just given him.

"Yeah, who the hell is Charlie?" Shai asks, her head perking up from the cell phone she was immersed in a few seconds ago.

"She mentioned Charlie?" Mike asks, his voice has taken on a panicked tone as he looks over to his brother and sits up straighter on the ottoman he was perched on. Luke nods, his eyes connecting with his older brother's and glaring at the man. "Shit."

"Language, Michael Antonio," Beni scolds from the other side of Toi, her eyes darting to her eldest grandson from the tree she was previously staring at. "Who is Charlie?" Mike continues to look at Luke, and Penelope takes this time to dart he eyes between the both of them, noticing the subtle changes in their facial expressions.

"Boys," Gabby interjects herself into the conversation, her curiosity finally taking over. Penelope continues to stare at her boyfriend, before glancing at the face of his watch and wondering if it was too soon to start drinking. It didn't come as a surprise to her when Luke finally tears his eyes away from his brother before looking at his mother and father and speaking. Yes, Penelope decides, that it is not too early to start drinking as she has never felt more uncomfortable before in her life.

"Ma," Luke says causing Penelope to look up at the man. "Mike and I need to talk to you and Dad." Penelope stands and runs her hands along his shoulders before making eye contact with Dani and jerking her head towards the kitchen. The other woman follows after rolling her eyes and dragging the other people out of the room with her. They all pile into the kitchen, with Penelope reaching out to help herself to a glass of wine, knowing that she was going to need the alcohol for the conversation they were about to have in the next room. The other people in the room turn to look at her with wide eyes and clear questions on their faces. She shrugs, knowing that each of them was going to know the information in a matter of minutes, and ignores the question.

"You may want to drink for this one," Penelope mutters, pushing the bottle of wine across the counter. "Trust me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and reviewing! You have no idea what it means to me to get those e-mail, you all are the best! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And we will soon find out what Luke said to his brother last chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Penelope looks up with wide eyes as the kitchen door swings open and Luke walks through with a dark expression on his face. He ignores his family, instead walking over to the woman and wraps her in his arms, placing his face into her neck and inhaling deeply. She lifts her right hand and runs her fingers through the back of his hair, holding him in place as she places her now empty wine glass onto the kitchen island.

"You okay?" She whispers the words into his ear while wrapping her left hand around the middle of his back. Luke nods, his beard scratching at her exposed collar before leaning back from their embrace.

"Yeah," he mutters. "But Mike, not so much." Penelope lets a small smile grace her lips as he reaches out to grab a beer from the bottom of the fridge.

" _It's weird..."_ Penelope turns around to find the other occupants of the kitchen staring at them and blushes. She opens her mouth to say something, to try and defend the comfort she had just provided the man but finds that the need to explain herself isn't something she wants to act upon. Penelope settles as Luke wraps his left arm around his waist, and turns her attention to Shai.

"So, what do you do for work," the blonde woman asks, trying to start a conversation with the other people in the room. Her eyes flick over to Dani, begging her silently to help ease the tension in the room.

"I'm a Doctor," Shai answers. "I work at a little practice close to our house." A sob echoes through the kitchen and most of the people in the room turn their attention towards the door. "Jay, maybe we should take the kids to my parent's house?" Jacob nods his head before grabbing their jackets from the hall and bundling up his daughter.

"Well," Jacob says as he stands and turns to the rest of his family. "Good luck with that." And before Penelope can process what is happening, the four of them have exited the house through the back door.

"So," Dani begins while reaching across the island in order to grab the open bottle of wine. Penelope watches as her bracelet slides against the smooth countertop and finds herself wishing she had a piece of jewelry like it. "Don't avoid the question this time, now that it's just the four of us, who is Charlie?"

Penelope looks up at the woman while holding her glass out for more wine and sighs. This isn't her place, she's not supposed to be here right now. All she wanted was to enjoy the day with her boyfriend, and the woman regrets ever waking up this morning. She would give everything to be back in bed with the man, kissing him until she was breathless, and learning the many ways he ticked. Luke's hand flexes instinctively around her waist and Penelope finds herself leaning her head on his shoulder as she pulls her cup back to her. She would give anything to take his pain away, she realizes, and the woman isn't sure when she had fallen so hard for the man. It was irrational, she feels, the way her feelings had taken a hold of her, sweeping her off of her feet, and planting her so firmly in the middle of his life that she didn't see a way out.

"Charlie is Lisa's son," Luke tells them quickly as he lifts his beer bottle to his mouth by the neck and takes a quick sip. Penelope watches as his throat bobs when he swallows and finds herself wondering what it would feel like to wrap her lips around his Adam's Apple. Shaking her head, the woman looks down at her wine glass with a confused expression, wondering why the alcohol was causing her thoughts to drift to carelessly. "And my nephew."

"Shit," Dani hisses and lifts her wine to her mouth, finishing the contents before emptying the rest of the bottle into the glass. "You weren't lying when you said we would need a drink." Penelope shakes her head and lets out a small giggle, finally feeling as if the tension was diffusing around them.

" _Eight years, Michael, he's eight years old!"_ Penelope winces at the shrill tone Gabby's voice had taken on and the warble of her words was familiar to the technical analyst. She had, after all, been on the receiving end of some pretty bad news as of late. And it wasn't as if she was a stranger to trying to hold herself together in the face of something so important. _"How could you keep this from us? How could you do this to your brother?"_

"He's eight," Issac hisses, turning his attention back to Luke, his brown eyes wide with anger. "Mike didn't tell me he had a kid for eight years?"

"I just found out a few months ago," Luke tells his cousin. "If that makes you feel better. I ran into them at the supermarket when Ma sent me for pies for her Fourth of July party."

"No, that doesn't make it better, because I asked him years ago when I saw that Lisa was pregnant," Issac snarls and then holds his hands up in an apology. "And he lied right to my face."

"He lied to a lot of us about a lot of things," Luke tells the man with a dark chuckle. His eyes lift to the door again when he can hear his father shouting at his brother. "Maybe we go and watch a movie upstairs," he suggests to which the other couple nods. Dani reaches underneath the kitchen island and grabs another two bottles of wine from the cooler as Luke grabs more beer from the refrigerator. As quickly as possible the four of them sneak past the living room and up the stairs. Penelope kicks off her heels, tossing them into the open bedroom once they make it to the third floor before walking over to settle in next to Luke on the couch. He presses his lips to her forehead, letting his eyes slide closed as he laces his fingers together behind her neck. "Thank you for being here."

"Do you guys care what we watch?" Penelope closes her eyes as well, reaching between them to let her right hand lay across his cheek, and shivers when he exhales against her skin. She ignores the question, choosing instead to lose herself in the feeling of being connected with her boyfriend. "Guess not, Sac," Dani answers her own question with a chuckle.

"You're welcome," Penelope whispers back. She pulls back as the man extends his leg behind her on the couch, and Penelope settles against him with her back to his chest. Luke wraps his arms around her waist, drawing her closer than she ever thought was possible. Her thoughts wander to past relationships, where she thought her life was intertwined with a person's, where she thought she knew everything there was to know about them, but they were all a sham. They were crushes compared to the severity of this relationship and it was still in its infancy stage. Penelope knew more about Luke and his family now than she ever did about Sam, or Kevin, or even Derek. This was...real.

The word struck her heartstrings so quickly she was sure that everyone around her could hear the quickening pace. But glancing around she finds that Dani and Sac were laying together on the floor, both of them paying attention to the movie playing on the screen, and Luke was laying with his head resting against the back of the couch with his eyes closed. Penelope takes a few moments to study his face in this serene state, the relaxed way his cheeks rested, the slackness of his jaw, the plump curve of his lips. Penelope knew that she found him attractive, had admitted that fact to herself years ago, but she found right now that she could actually come to love him. And it scared her to no end.

The slamming of the door at the bottom of the stairs causes Penelope to jump into his embrace. Luke's eyes fly open as he watches his brother storming up the steps and into the open area, his eyes darkened with what Penelope can only describe as rage. She leans off of Luke's chest, letting the man stand up and approach his brother. She keeps her eyes trained on the television, staring intently as the actors move across the large screen and tries her hardest to not pay attention to the conversation happening behind her.

"You had made yourself perfectly clear the other day Lu," Mike hisses over the volume of the television. Dani and Issac turn around to stare at the pair of them, clearly finding the family drama more interesting than the movie. Penelope gulps. "I stopped flirting with your girlfriend and but you told them anyway."

"That was until she showed up spouting off about your kid," Luke tells his brother, crossing his arms over his chest. Penelope looks down at her hands, deciding to pull her phone out and text Derek, anything to keep her mind off of what was happening behind her.

"So you tell them," Mike shouts back. "How did you even find out about the damn kid?" Penelope stiffens, her fingers flying across her screen. She wants to wrap her arms around Luke and drag him away from the argument happening, but the situation was escalating quicker than she can think.

"I saw them at the grocery store, Mike," Luke shouts back. Penelope flinches, sinking lower into the couch and lets out a small whimper. She wasn't used to shouting, choosing instead to calmly talk through her problems. It was one of the reasons her relationship with Sam ended, the man had always wanted to settle disagreements with harsh statements and balled fists. Penelope had seen that scenario played out too many times over the course of her employment with the Behavioral Analysis Unit, and as soon as the man left that day, she had called it quits. She closes her eyes and tries to calm her breathing, not wanting to draw attention to herself. When Luke speaks again his voice is softer, more calm and controlled. "They had a right to know, Mike, he's their grandchild."

"I'm sorry I slept with her," Mike spits, his voice catching in his throat. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I didn't want a kid, I didn't want her, I just want to take it all back."

"You can't take it back," Luke tells him as Penelope opens her eyes, staring once again at the television. "We all make choices in life and you made a bad one that led to consequences you weren't ready to face, but here we are Mike."

"She's coming over for dinner with Charlie," Mike announces. "Abuela called her and demanded it."

"Well fuck," Dani eloquently announces her presence as her eyes rove over the brothers. "Way to bury the lead."

* * *

The air is cool against her skin as Penelope steps outside to catch a breath of fresh air. The tension was thick in the kitchen as the brothers and their parents silently worked around each other. She watches as Roxy rolls around in the fluffy snow, and realizes that flurries had started to fall once again as they finished up the movie. Penelope spots an old swing set sitting off in the corner and makes her way to it, carefully stepping through the snow before brushing off the seat and settling herself onto the plastic. Shivering in the cold air, she rocks the swing back and forth slowly, not wanting to break the toy that looked like it had been there since Luke was an infant.

"Hey, you forgot your coat," Dani calls out as she walks over to the swings and settles herself on the only other available surface. "Luke has been staring at you out of the window since you left the house." Smiling, Penelope turns to the other woman.

"It was too..." she's at a loss for words, not sure how to describe the heat of the home. It's not that it was too warm, it was too congested? Penelope is not sure that's the word she's looking for either.

"Yeah," Dani replies, shoving her hand into her pocket and pulling something small and white from her pocket. She places the object in her mouth and lights it, taking a long drag before reaching up and holding it out for Penelope. Shaking her head, Penelope looks back over at Roxy, laughing as the dog jumps up into the air, trying to catch the flurries as they fall. "Lu and the twins used to smoke over here all the time as kids, you can't see the swing from the kitchen window unless you're taller than five two." Penelope chuckles, looking over her shoulder at Dani with a smile.

"I didn't know that," she tells the other woman. "There's still a lot I don't know, but the big things..."

"Yeah, the big things," Dani repeats. "I'm not sure how dinner is going to go, but it's best for me to be sedated if she is going to be here." Dani holds up the joint, blowing it a kiss before placing it between her lips again and taking another drag. Penelope watches as she inhales the smoke, holds it for a few seconds, before blowing out a small puff of air.

"I feel like I shouldn't even be there," Penelope admits, her voice dropping a few octaves.

"You should be there," Dani mutters back to the woman as she places the joint between her lips again. "Lu is calm when you're around. That fight would have escalated earlier had he not looked over at you during it. Those two have been oil and water for as long as I can remember, but then again I came into things at the wrong time." She blows out another puff of smoke. "Sac tells me all the time that the four of them used to be inseparable, but when Lu found out about Mike and Lisa, he just...well how would you have reacted?" The question is rhetorical, but Penelope finds herself wondering exactly what she would have done. "Do you have siblings?"

"I did," Penelope mutters, her eyes trailing off to look at Roxy again. "A long time ago."

"That ominous," Dani replies while laughing. "What does that even mean?"

"I have four brothers," Penelope whispers, watching as her hot breath turns to steam as it hits the cool air. "I haven't seen them since our parent's passed away." It was weird to talk about, especially with someone that she had just met, but Penelope finds Dani an easy person to talk to.

"Shit," Dani exclaims, and Penelope extrapolates that the swear must be the woman's favorite word. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up..." Penelope shakes her head, glancing over at Dani with a smile.

"No worries, love," she whispers. "It's been almost twenty years." Both women look up when they hear the back door opening, and sigh in relief when Issac sticks his head around the frame.

"Loquita," he shouts, looking directly at Dani. "Penelope, it's showtime."

"Don't call me crazy, Sac," Dani shouts back. "Or I'll make sure that you go back to wearing that cup again." The women stand and begin walking back towards the house, Penelope calling for Roxy as they get closer. The dog bounds her way into the house and she can hear Luke's delighted laughter. She smiles at the sound, hoping that she can continue to hear it for the rest of the night.

"Apologies, gorgeous," he tells his girlfriend as she pauses before him. Penelope watches as he presses his lips to hers before reaching up to tug on the ends of her hair.

"Bastard," Dani grumbles, following him into the house with a loud laugh. Stepping through the door, Penelope realizes that the tension hadn't dissipated at all, it had, in fact, grown in size and the hair on the back of her neck was standing at attention as she made her way to Luke's side.

"You going to be okay," she whispers to the man. Luke looks down at her with a wide smile, one that she can tell is fake as she remembers seeing it enough over the past two years, and tosses his right arm around her shoulder.

"I'll be better when she's gone," he mutters, leaning down to press his lips against hers. Penelope closes her eyes as she reaches up to cup his cheek, and while it feels like years ago, she knows it was only hours before that they were kissing each other senseless in his childhood bedroom. She'd give anything to drag him back there right now, give her right hand and all of her computers to not have to be sitting through dinner with his ex-girlfriend and his nephew. "I'm sorry you have to sit through this," he leans down to whisper into her ear, pulling his lips away from hers as she gives an audible groan. "But I promise to make it up to you once she's gone." Penelope nods before opening her eyes and following him as he leads her to the dining room.

She settles herself between Luke and Dani, and thanks God for small miracles as Beni seats herself across from her. Penelope, while being the paradigm of all things nice and shiny and hopeful, was not sure that she could sit through an entire dinner staring at the woman who had shattered her boyfriend into a million pieces several years ago. Her eyes are trained on the small boy walking into the dining room, clutching his mother's hand and keeping his eyes trained on his shoes. Penelope is taken by surprise when he looks up at the rest of the table, and for a second she's not sure if she's looking at a boy named Charlie or a miniature version of her boyfriend and his brother.

" _Shit,"_ Dani leans over and whispers to her and Penelope nods her head quickly, never taking her eyes off of the small boy. For a fleeting second, she wonders if this is what her future would look like? All of them sitting around a table, with children who looked exactly like their father. She shakes her head, clearing the thoughts and watches as Mike, Toi, and Issac walk in carrying the rest of the dishes for dinner.

"You reek," Issac whispers to Dani as he sits down next to her.

She shrugs her shoulders, whispering back, "don't act like this is a surprise, you're usually out there with me." Issac laughs, reaching out to grasp hands with Dani as Toi stands and begins blessing the food on the table. Penelope lowers her eyes, trying her hardest to stop herself from staring at the small child across the table from her. When Toi sits down, Charlie looks up at Luke.

"I remember you," he speaks slowly, narrowing his eyes. Penelope looks up at the boy before taking the bowl that was being handed to her by Dani, and scooping some of the contents onto her plate and Luke's before passing it along the table.

"I remember you," Luke finally manages to say as the rest of the table serves themselves dinner. He reaches down for his fork, letting his left-hand land on her thigh under the table. Penelope concentrates on the food in front of her, trying to stall her body from kicking into overdrive as she feels his fingertips pressing into the inside of her thighs.

"So, Charlie," Gabby says, lifting her glass of water to her lips. "What grade are you in?"

"Third," he replies with a wide smile, his tongue poking through a gap in his teeth. "What grade are you in?" Penelope lets out a little chuckle at the question, trying hard to control how adorable she found the small child.

"I finished school a long time ago," Gabby tells him with a wide smile.

"Are you my father?" Penelope feels Luke stiffen beside her, and immediately the noise in the room has died down as all side conversations come to a halt. Charlie is looking directly at Luke with his head tilted. Luke coughs, reaching out to take a sip of water from his glass before shaking his head, his eyes darting over to his brother who remains silent. Penelope watches as Mike keeps his eyes trained on his plate of food, and finds herself growing frustrated with the man. For someone who looks exactly like her boyfriend, he was absolutely nothing like the Luke she knew and… She lets the thought trail away from her. "I found pictures of you with my mom."

"Charlie, that's enough," Lisa finally speaks up, heat creeping into her cheeks as she places her hand on the back of the child's head.

"No, mom," Charlie replies harshly. "I want to know." Sighing, Luke shakes his head at the kid and sits back in his chair. He glances over at Penelope, and she smiles at him with a nod, telling him that it's okay, everything was fine and that he could, in fact, deliver this bout of news eloquently.

"Those pictures you found of your mother and I, they're from a long time ago, back before you were born," Luke begins as he glances around the table, his eyes narrow when he comes upon his brother who was staring off down the table, disinterested in the entire conversation. "But I am not your father."

"Oh," Charlie mutters. Penelope's heart breaks as she watches his face fall, the hopeful look on his face sliding off so quickly. The blonde woman glances back over at Mike, hoping that he would speak up, but the man disappoints not only her but others around the table as he remains quiet.

"Damn it, Mike," Luke finally says, slapping his hand on the table and looking at his brother. Penelope jumps a little, the sudden movement of her boyfriend scaring her. She lets out a small squeak causing Luke to glance down at her with an apologetic smile.

"What?" Mike growls across the table, his eyes quickly passing over his child and Lisa. "What do you want me to say?"

"How about taking some responsibility for once," Toi says calmly, raising a fork to his lips and taking a bite of food. "Your mother and I didn't raise you to shirk your duties." Penelope straightens in her chair, the man's voice conveying authority with each syllable. She notices that Luke also sits up straighter in his chair, as does Issac. This must be something that they are used to, as Mike glares at his father over the top of his glass. Penelope glances over at Lisa, wondering why now, why after all this time would she pop back up into their lives. She chastises herself for not running the search last night like she wanted to.

"Fine, kid," Mike growls again, turning to face his son. "I'm your father." Charlie looks up at Mike with wide eyes that glisten with unshed tears, his face breaking into a wide smile.

"I hope you have a big house," Charlie tells him.

"Charles, that's enough," Lisa interrupts, snatching her napkin from her lap and tossing it onto the table before turning to her son. "I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Alvez, everyone, we should be going."

"What does he mean, Lee?" Mike's voice rings out over the commotion as he stands to block them from exiting the dining room. Penelope watches as Lisa shakes her head while running her fingers through her son's hair.

"Mom's sick," Charlie announces. "That's why she went to Church yesterday."

" _Shit,"_ Both Dani and Penelope say in unison, looking at each other.

* * *

Penelope finds herself typing frantically once they get back upstairs, finally feeling at ease as she begins to hack into the woman's medical files.

"Last name?" She doesn't look up from the screen but keeps her hands poised over the keys, waiting for the information.

"Hazard," Issac replies, watching with interest over her shoulder. She navigates the screens quickly, not really listening as Dani continues to compliment her on her talent, as she lays back on the couch with another joint resting between her lips. Issac reaches out to grab it, pausing with it to his lips before handing it back to his girlfriend. Penelope glances up quickly at Luke and finds the man watching her with amazement as she prepares to break the law for his family, both of them know what's at stake for her if she gets caught again, but she promises to hide her trail very well.

It doesn't take her long to have pulled up Lisa's medical records, each of them hissing as they look at her prognosis.

"How bad is it?" Penelope looks up at the doorway, Mike's face coming into view. Dani and Issac turn away from him, each spouting off a different excuse as they thunder down the stairs and into the bedroom they had monopolized for their stay. "Lu, how bad is it?"

"She didn't tell you anything?" Luke's voice sounds foreign to her ears, and she wonders if this is what he sounds like when he's hurting. Penelope vows that if it is, that she never wants to hear him speak in that tone again. Mike shakes his head, coming to stand before his brother. Penelope sighs again, turning the computer so that Mike can look at it, and closes her eyes. She realizes now that both of these brothers had once loved this woman, even if Mike says he never did. He loved her enough to break a bond with his family, loved her enough to risk tearing his world apart, loved her enough to get her pregnant. But, Penelope questions herself, does he love her still?

"How long?" Mike's voice cracks as he asks the question, his eyes scanning the computer screen for the answer to his question.

"Not sure," Penelope whispers back to him. "But if she's reaching out..."

"It may not be long at all," Luke whispers to his brother, clapping his hand on his shoulder. "You should probably go talk to her, at least for Charlie."

"I'm not..." Mike begins, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "This isn't." He nods, grabbing his phone from the charger and walks out of the room. Penelope looks up at Luke with a soft smile, watching as the air deflates from his lungs before closing down the applications and double checking that she didn't leave any traces during her search.

"Thank you," Luke mutters as he tosses himself onto the couch beside her. Penelope shakes her head, silently telling the man that there was nothing to thank as he turns to her.

"Can I ask you a question?" Penelope lets the question linger between them for a few seconds before continuing. "Why did you place your bed directly underneath the skylight?" Luke lets out a laugh as he turns his head on the back of the couch to look at her.

"I've always loved the stars," he tells her with a smile. "Ma used to find me hanging out of the windows late at night in order to look at them and so one summer they had the skylight installed. In Afghanistan, it was the only way I could fall asleep because no matter where I was the stars were always the same. They still help me sleep now."

"That's sweet," Penelope grins back at the man. "Mini Newbie hanging out of windows in order to look at a shining star." She gives out a quick squeak as he reaches out to tickle the sides of her stomach. She slides down onto the couch as Luke continues his assault on her sides and before she realizes it, his lips are directly on hers. Penelope finds herself breathless as he lays on top of her, pressing little kisses along her jaw as she runs her fingers through his hair. "Luke," she whispers as his lips trail down her neck. Finally, she admits, "I'm scared."

"Why?" He mutters into her neck, his lips continue their trail down to the tops of her breasts.

"Because I can see myself falling for you," Penelope whispers, pressing her face into his hair.

"Don't worry," Luke tells her as he picks his head up to look her in the eye. "I'll catch you."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys follow me on Tumblr (itsdawnashlie), which you should because I'm very active over there with Garvez stories, then you know what I am about to say. After 12 years my faithful and trusty laptop Maevis has left this dear world. I am currently searching for a new laptop, but I'm picky and I loved my MacBook as if she was family. Anyway, I stole my husband's laptop for this and will continue to do so. I hope you enjoy this.

Penelope finds that she's comfortable, even with the odd angle her neck is at as she lays her head in Luke's lap. His fingers are scratching idly at her scalp as he stares straight ahead at the television, the both of them having agreed rather quickly on a movie to watch. Or pretend to watch in her case as her mind has traveled so far away from the situation she was currently in.

Penelope also finds that she is trying hard not to turn around and straddle him. She's restraining herself from gripping his face between her hands and dropping her mouth to his in a passionate kiss because she knows that their entire relationship can't be built on the physical attraction between the both of them.

Even though, right now, all Penelope wants is to feel his strong hands gripping her body, pulling her close and pushing her away. She wants to feel him drawing heat into her skin while leaving her chilled, she has a need to feel him kissing her so hard she's left breathless and loving her so slowly that all she can do is concentrate on her breathing. Penelope can vividly imagine his thick hair in the valley between her breast, trailing kisses down her stomach and eventually nestling himself between her legs. She doesn't want to imagine what his tongue would feel like as it slides through her folds, flicking quickly against her clitoris, him sliding his hands up the inside of her thighs and spreading her legs open wider with a heavy sigh, or was it a moan? She doesn't want to think about how the muscles in his shoulders would ripple as he holds her legs open with his forearms, his fingers rolling against her clitoris as he continues to lap at her. She didn't mean to think about his teeth and how they would nibble at her skin, nipping slowly up and down her thighs, torturing her as he holds her bucking hips down before placing his mouth over her again...

"What're you thinking about?" His voice jars her from her daydream and the woman gives out a small squeak as her entire face turns red, heat flaming under her skin and spreading down the back of her neck. She blinks rapidly, focusing her eyes anywhere but on his face.

"Nothing," she squeaks, turning her attention back to the movie and hoping that he would forget the far-off look she had just had on her face.

"That wasn't a nothing reaction," he tells her softly but follows her lead and focuses back on the movie playing across the room. "You moaned." When she looks up at him he's smirking, his eyes looking very smug as they remain trained on the television.

"I did no such thing," Penelope rushes out the words, the heat flaring along her skin. She closes her eyes while biting her lip, completely mortified that she had been caught. Luke shakes with laughter at her denial. He moves his left hand from her hair to her stomach and Penelope flexes under his touch, a whimper escaping her lips before she could stop it, and she groans knowing that her protests were now futile. "Profilers," she mutters darkly as she lifts her arm to settle over her eyes.

"So," Luke begins and Penelope watches as his tongue darts out to lick his lips. The same tongue she had just imagined was between her legs and finds that coherent thoughts have left her brain. "What were you thinking about?" Penelope shakes her head, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth with her teeth and sinks lower into the couch.

"Can't say," she finally whispers as he lifts her arm off of her face. When Penelope opens her eyes he's staring down at her intently. The woman finds that she can't think as she looks into his eyes. She's sure that she has forgotten how to breathe, how to blink, how to live as he looks down at her. She's self-conscious without her signature makeup, feeling naked as his eyes circle her face before focusing on her lips.

"I'll tell you what I was thinking about," he mutters, licking his lips again without taking his eyes off of her face. Penelope finds herself nodding slowly without blinking, finding that she was too entranced by the way his lips glistened in the glow of the television. She hadn't even felt him moving until his right hand comes up to trail down her cheek, his fingers slowing as they caress her neck causing Penelope to shiver. "I was thinking about kissing you," he whispers softly.

"Oh," she whispers back, letting her eyes linger on his lips again before flicking them back up to his eyes. Penelope licks her lips, anticipation coursing through her body.

"More specifically," Luke continues with a chuckle at seeing how flustered she was. "Pulling you onto my lap, forgetting the movie and losing myself in the feeling of kissing you." Penelope nods as his words reach her ears, her mouth running dry with the thought of pressing her body close to his again. In this moment, with Christmas past them, his family nowhere to be found, and the room dark around them Penelope knows that she could take things too far on this couch. She also knows that she wouldn't regret a single second and that scared her as well, but not enough to stop her from sitting up on the couch and climbing into his lap.

"Like this," she asks as she places her hands behind his head and curls her fingers into his hair, using her nails to scratch at his scalp. Speechless, the man nods as his hands settle themselves on her waist. She can feel his fingers curl around her, digging into the small of her back as he drags her further into his lap. Penelope wasn't a teenager anymore, far from it, but the feelings the man was currently eliciting in her was reminiscent of her time in high school. She tries to ignore the heat radiating off of her, sure that he can feel it against him and she wonders if he can also feel the sudden rush of moisture between her legs. Penelope leans forward, brushing her breasts against the top of his chest as she angles her face down to his. She lets her lips hover directly above his, waiting, watching his face for a reaction.

"Are you going to kiss me or…" he whispers, his eyes closing as he trails off with a low whimper. It's a powerful feeling, Penelope decides, liberating, exhilarating even, to have the man trembling at the thought of kissing her. She would never have imagined that someone who looked like Luke: with his abs and his strong jawline, could ever be strung out on the anticipation of physical contact with her. But here it was, plain as day for her to see as he sat underneath her with a heaving chest. Penelope slides her right hand from the back of his head and splays her palm against his cheek as she continues to look at him, letting her eyes glide over his face. He had his head nestled against the couch cushions, his shoulders relaxed against the couch as well, but the straining muscles of his tanned forearms as they wrapped around her waist tell a different story. It was almost comical, she thinks as she finally presses her lips against his and feels him breathing a sigh of relief as he melts into the embrace.

She's supposed to do the melting, Penelope thinks, as she continues to kiss the man. Her tongue sliding out of her mouth and dipping into his, the two of them playfully batting against the other as she tries to catch her breath. The woman realizes that she can feel his hands everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He was gripping her backside, moving her hips slowly against his growing erection and then he was tugging on the ends of her hair to nuzzle his face against her neck. She hisses out a moan as his teeth drag slowly down the front of her neck. Penelope opens her eyes and watches as Luke opens his mouth to place sloppy kisses along the tops of her breasts, his hands sliding under her shirt in order to glide his palms against the front of them.

There's no better feeling in the world, she decides, as his fingers pull down the cups of her bra. Her nipples pebble on their own, or maybe they had already been this way, she couldn't be sure, not anymore. Penelope closes her eyes again as he lifts her shirt with his left hand, and before she can form a coherent thought his warm mouth has covered her right nipple, his hand gripping her other breast and giving it a gentle squeeze. She moans, long and loud which causes the man to chuckle around her nipple before she clamps her hands to her mouth. It was still late at night and they had not ventured to bed, neither one wanting to break the bubble they had found themselves in. It was supposed to be the two of them hanging out on the couch and watching a movie, it was never supposed to get to this point. With her hips moving of their own accord as his mouth switches to her other breast. She lets out another moan as she slides herself against his erection. Penelope is ready to beg him to take her right here on the couch, she finds that she doesn't care that it's too soon, doesn't care that they had only been dating for a few days. She had been thinking about this for years.

Penelope opens her eyes as she tilts herself forward, ready to press her face into his hair again as he continues to flick his tongue against her nipples, alternating between them with a needy frequency and no rhythm as she lets out another moan which turns into a surprised yelp. Luke looks up at her in confusion with her breast still in his mouth. She would find it amusing if she wasn't busy trying to pull her shirt down and dive off his lap while hiding her face in a pillow in embarrassment.

"How long were you standing there," Luke growls, clearly frustrated with being disrupted once again. "Why the hell are you standing there?" Penelope kicks her foot out at him, catching him in the thigh with a not so gentle reminder to be nice. "Ow, Penelope, I'm not made of stone."

"You have a bedroom," Mike answers his brother with obvious amusement in his voice. "You should probably use it if you don't want to be disrupted." Penelope decides that she could never come back here, not after everything this family had seen. She decides to roll off of the couch, softly hitting the floor on her hands and knees and begins to crawl away from the bickering brothers. "Your girlfriend is in a rush to get away from you," Mike mutters again.

"No, you pervert, she's in a rush to get away from you," Luke replies and Penelope can hear him getting off of the couch before the sound of the remote clattering to the table alerts her that their time in the room was over. As if that wasn't clear before. "Pen, you can stand up and walk…"

"I'm trying to crawl into a hole, Luke," she tells him over her shoulder, her legs moving faster as she tries to make it to the bedroom before he can catch up to her. He laughs, which causes the woman stop moving in order to watch him. It was her favorite thing about him, she realizes, his laugh and the way it fills the entire room. His smile, and the way it fills her heart with warmth. I'm screwed, Penelope tells herself as she watches him straighten out the couch with shaking shoulders.

"How did things go with Lisa?" Luke looks over at Penelope, and she's not sure why until she realizes that she was the one who asked the question. Mike's face morphs before her eyes, from one filled with amusement to somber in an instant. The man heaves a sigh as he tosses his coat onto the chair located beside his bedroom door.

"She's dying," he mutters. Mike doesn't look at his brother as he settles himself onto the couch, but Penelope can see his need for comfort as she flicks her eyes up to Luke's face. She jerks her head at his brother and shakes it roughly as the man pleads with his eyes to follow her into the bedroom. They both knew where he was needed at the moment, and it wasn't settled deliciously between her legs. Even though that's exactly where she wanted him right now.

Penelope picks herself up from the floor and walks the rest of the way to the bedroom, making sure to grab her laptop from his desk before settling in the middle of the bed with a sad smile. She lays back onto the pillows with her hands resting behind her head. Her eyes flicker up to the night sky and she prays for the first time in a while; hoping that everything would work out for the small boy she had met earlier that day.

-

Somehow, throughout the course of the night, Luke had slid into the bed beside her and had wrapped himself so tightly around her that Penelope feared she would never be able to move again. She had never taken the man for a cuddler, she thought he was too macho for the soft side of relationships, but she realizes that even the strongest men soften for the women they love. The blonde woman runs her fingers along his forearm, tracing them along the grooves of his muscles as he grips her tighter while he sleeps.

"Lu," her voice is hoarse from sleep, and at the moment all she wants to do is relieve herself. Penelope tries to wiggle herself out of his embrace but finds that he's gripping her too close. "Luke, I have to pee," she tries again in a louder voice.

"No," he mutters back to her. Rolling her eyes, Penelope wiggles against him again. "If you don't stop that you won't be leaving this bed today, not even to pee," he warns her, his voice dropping to a low hiss. She blushes, realizing that she had been rubbing herself against him in the process of trying to break free.

"You should probably let me go then," she retorts before biting her lip.

"Fine," he growls. "But come right back." She nods as he relaxes his grip and Penelope bounds out of the bed, stopping to slip her glasses onto her face. Nothing seems out of place to the woman until she's exiting the bathroom and runs face first into a chest she's not familiar with. She gives a small squeak as she looks up into a pair green eyes.

"You're not...who are you?" She asks quickly her voice raising a few octaves while tugging at the bottom of the shirt she is wearing. The man chuckles, crossing his arms over his chest and leans against the door frame with a smirk.

"Steve," he tells her proudly as he crosses his left leg over the right. Penelope notices then that he's in a pair of black boxer briefs and blushes at the sight of him. "I'm with Mike," he tells her. "Can I use the bathroom now?"

"Oh, oh," she exclaims, rushing past the man into the game room. "Yeah, sure, sorry." She tells him as he shuts the door softly. Penelope takes a few moments to stare at the door with her mouth open wide, only jumping back into action as she hears the toilet flush and the faucet turn on. She's not sure when the last time her legs have ever carried her as fast as they did. Penelope shuts the door quickly, snapping it closed audibly and leans her back against the slab of wood.

"Everything alright?" Luke asks as he picks his head up from the pillow in order to look at her.

"Do you know a Steve?" She questions the man as she settles her racing heart. "One who may know your brother?"

"Yeah," Luke mumbles as he drops his head back onto the pillow. "He's Mike's best friend, why?"

"Oh, no reason," Penelope whispers. "Just ran into him in the bathroom, he's half naked, I'm half naked, fun times." She runs her hands through her hair, letting out a breath of air as Luke sits up in the bed. When she looks up again the man is staring at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"He's naked?"

"Half," Penelope tells him, waving her hand in dismissal as she walks back to the bed in order to climb in. "What're you doing?" She asks as Luke climbs out of the bed.

"Give me a second," he responds before exiting the bedroom. Penelope can hear the door across the hall open and then raised voices before Luke is coming back into the room, slamming the door closed and leaning against it. "Okay," he mutters.

"Okay?" Penelope lets out a laugh at his expression, wondering exactly what it was that he had just seen.

"This Christmas is going to kill my parents," he whispers as a loud knocking can be heard at the door. "Mike?" He questions and a muffled yes alerts Penelope to pull the blankets over her bare legs. Luke turns and opens the door, standing off to the side so that Penelope can also look at Mike.

"Don't tell them," he begs. Penelope runs her hands through her hair, thinking to herself that this man and his secrets were going to be the death of her and it was only day three.

"You should," Luke tells his brother as he reaches up to scratch at his bare chest. "I mean they won't care that you're gay, but next time lock the door."

"Next time knock," Mike counters. "I'm bi-sexual Luke," he corrects. "I can see the Lisa question swirling around your face."

Luke holds up his hands with a wide grin. "I wasn't going to ask any questions." Noticing Roxy sitting on the couch he whistles, calling the dog into the room and shuts the door after bidding his brother good luck. Luke walks back to the bed, peeling back the blankets and crawling in beside her.

"Any more secrets I should know about," Penelope asks the man as she curls herself into his side and presses her lips to his right shoulder.

"I really hope not," he mutters as he drops a kiss on her forehead. "I'm honestly missing serial killers right now." Penelope slaps lightly at his stomach, muttering out a hey as she blinks up at him. "Well obviously not right now, because you're better than any serial killer."

"Obviously," Penelope laughs, leaning up to press her lips to his chin with a sigh. Pulling back she looks at him with a mischievous grin before asking, "Did you lock the door?"

-

"Luke was such a good baby," Gabby says as she continues to knead the dough on the counter. "He never cried, slept through the night, would let anybody hold him… if he didn't come out looking exactly like his father, I might have thought they switched him in the nursery." Penelope watches as the woman sprinkles more flour onto the counter and continues kneading the dough. "Michael on the other hand," she lets out a huff of breath and lets her body sag as if she was tired. "The boy was up all night long until he was twelve and then one day," she snaps her fingers sending a cloud of flour into the air. "He slept. It was a miracle. But he wet the bed, and he cried out for me all the time…"

"Ma," Mike shouts from the other room. "Seriously?"

"What?" Gabby shouts back. "She's not your girlfriend, you don't have to impress her." Turning back to Penelope she continues speaking. "Anyway, Luke always did well in school, tried his hardest to get the best marks and even made it to college on a baseball scholarship. We were so proud of him, well we still are." Penelope smiles widely at the woman before bringing a bottle of water to her lips and taking a sip. "Tell me, truthfully, because a boy calls his mother, how did you go from bickering to what I see before me."

Penelope blushes and ducks her head, letting her hair shield her face before answering. "Honestly, Gabby, I have no clue. One day we were going back and forth about how he filed his paperwork and the next I'm curled up next to him on a plane." She sighs heavily, looking out the window, watching him toss a ball to Roxy. "I think it was always there, lying just beneath the surface, waiting for one of us to make the first move, you know." Penelope takes another sip of water, finally tearing her eyes away from her boyfriend to look back at Gabby.

"I know that look," Gabby tells her with a smile. "I like that look."

"What look," Penelope asks in a panic, instinctively touching her face to see if she had dropped anything whilst eating throughout the day.

"Love." She lets her mouth drop open as she stares at the woman, shaking her head so quickly that Penelope is sure she gave herself a concussion.

"No no, it's too soon for love," She tells Gabby in a panicked whisper. Immediately her mind starts racing, replaying the last two years and especially the last two days. The way her heart rattled against her chest when she looks at him, the rushing of her blood when he touches her, the need to be by him. Penelope knows the way that she calms when he's around, and she knows that she seems to have the same effect on him. It was surely just attraction, wild, sinful, unchecked attraction. Surely it would all calm down once they were finally able to take that next step? She lets her eyes flicker to him outside, watching as he smiles at Roxy, and tries to ignore the fluttering of her stomach or the beating of her heart. "He's...I'm...that's just…" but instead of flimsy excuses, she settles on silence as Gabby laughs lightly.

"It's okay," the older woman tells her softly. "To be scared or unsure, because I know my baby, and I know he's just as scared."

"Luke isn't afraid of anything," Penelope replies with a smile. "He's run into burning buildings to save children, he's sat with grieving mothers, he made sure we were all safe just on this last case...no, he's a hero."

"Even heroes get scared, Penelope," Gabby responds while washing her hands in the kitchen sink. "Now tell me about this burning building, because my son definitely did not relay that story."

-

Penelope finds herself sitting in the living room a few minutes later with her feet tucked underneath her on the couch. She has her laptop open before her and is slowly perusing a website on which she could purchase several accessories for a certain dog in her life. And the woman is trying her hardest to not listen to the strained conversation happening in front of her.

"Between you and your brother I'm not sure which one of you is going to send me to an early grave, Luke!" Penelope winces as she looks at her boyfriend with an apologetic smile.

"Ma," Luke says in desperation, his fingers rubbing his temples. "It's my job and my partner was inside the building." He glances over at Penelope and the woman has the decency to quickly look back down at her laptop with a chuckle. "I'm always careful." Gabby reaches out to pat her son on the cheek whispering to him in Spanish before pressing her lips to his cheek.

"Take Penelope out for a while, Lisa is coming over to talk with your brother…" she trails off as a sad look settles over her face. "It's hard enough dealing with one sullen child I don't need two of you around here."

"I did promise her some hot chocolate," he looks over his shoulder at her with a smile. "Babe, you feel like going out?" He laughs as her eyes light up, a single word passing through her lips as she snaps her laptop closed. It takes Luke a few moments before he realizes his mistake. Penelope looks up at him with wide eyes, her mind running through the many stores that littered the city they were so close to. She had been itching to leave the house and venture away from his childhood home, but knowing their job the woman didn't want to cut into any time he had with his family. He sighs softly as he looks at her face, "Sure, we can go shopping."

"Did someone say shopping?" Penelope looks up in time to see Dani racing down the steps with a wide smile. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. The woman was expertly pulling a cardigan over her shoulders and jumped off of the staircase before reaching the bottom. "I love shopping!"

"NO!" Laughing loudly the blonde woman turns again to see Issac racing down the stairs after his girlfriend. "Dani, we have plans today," he stresses with wide eyes as he looks at his cousin.

"Yes," Dani tells him quickly. "And those plans include shopping with my new friend Penelope while you and Lu carry our bags." Issac chuckles as he runs his hand across his chin. He's grinning so wide that Penelope can see inside of his mouth.

"Uh, well…" he glances over at Luke, begging the man to help him but Luke just shrugs his shoulders before kissing his mother on the cheek. Penelope watches as Issac turns to her boyfriend, holding a box out for him to look at.

"Actually," Penelope begins. She winks at Issac before turning to Dani. "Luke promised that we would finish that movie we were watching last night, but maybe we can do dinner?" Issac nods his head, mouthing a thank you to the woman as he turns to his girlfriend.

"See," he proclaims as he grabs her jacket and slides it up her arm. "They're going to be preoccupied." He finishes his sentence as the doorbell sounds and Penelope watches as Luke turns to his mother. Standing up from the couch the woman decides that it's time to exit the living room and begins making her way up the stairs. She's not sure that she could look at Lisa without wanting to wrap the woman in a hug and the last thing Penelope wanted to do was make Luke uncomfortable.

"Penelope wait!" Penelope turns towards the voice in confusion, not entirely sure why Lisa would be calling out for her of all people. "You should probably stay for this…" the woman lets her sentence die out as she stands in the middle of the living room with her purse in her hands.

"I'm not sure," Penelope begins to speak. She's clutching her laptop to her chest and begging anyone that would listen to make her disappear. Looking down, Penelope takes in the sight of her red and white striped leggings and the skirt of her plain black dress before turning around and walking back down the stairs. "How are you feeling?" The question rolls off of her tongue before she can stop herself and, to her surprise, Lisa looks relieved as she settles herself into a chair.

"I've had better days," Lisa admits truthfully, her attention diverted when Gabby walks into the room carrying a tray. Luke takes the tray from his mother and settles it on the coffee table before preparing three separate cups of tea. Penelope watches with a soft smile as he hands one to his mother, one to her, and lastly, he hands one to Lisa. "I didn't come here to talk to Mike, I came to talk to you Luke," she finally continues after stirring her tea and taking a small sip. Lisa's eye flutter shut and Penelope feels like she can see the exhaustion seep into her skin.

Luke sighs, bowing his head to look at his clasped hands with rigid shoulders. Penelope isn't sure that she should be here right now and looking across the table at Gabby, she knows that the woman feels the same way. She keeps her eyes trained on her tea, trying to find some excuse to remove herself from this situation and each time coming up empty. It's a long while before Luke speaks, each of the women in the room silent as they waited for him to compile himself. "I'm sorry you're sick, but we have nothing left to talk about."

He looks up at her, for what could have been the first time in years, and Penelope can't deny the emotion she sees displayed in his irises. It shocks her, but not as much as she expected it to because the man looks at her with such intensity.

"Lu," Lisa pleads as she reaches out with shaky hands to place her cup on the nearest surface. "This isn't about me, it's about Charlie."

"Charlie has a father, Lisa, and it's not me," he tells the woman in the same calm tone as before. Penelope can see it now, the perfectly timed breathing, the way he tapped his right index finger against the back of his left hand. He may seem calm on the outside, but he wasn't calm at all. Penelope loved him more in this instance. Loved him for the simple fact that he would put the woman who broke his heart before himself, that he would listen to what she came to talk about and not react so violently.

"Charlie needs stability, Luke," she rushes out, her voice catching in her throat as she tries not to sob. "And the only stable thing in my life was you." Penelope's eyes snap up to look at Luke, her mind racing as she deduced Lisa's underlying question.

"My life isn't stable," Luke finally manages to tell the woman. "The only reason I'm here today is because my team and I just finished three cases in a row, Roxy has been here because I haven't been to my apartment in over a month." He sighs before sitting back on the couch and reaches out to grasp Penelope's hand with his own. "You and Mike shattered any stability I may have had years ago and I'm trying to rebuild it now. Mike can and will step up to care for Charlie should the need arise, but you should be asking him, not me."

Penelope glances up from her cup of tea in order to look at the woman. There were large tears rolling down her cheeks, splattering against her lips, as she looks down at her clasped hands. It didn't take her long before she spoke up, leaning forward to grab Lisa's hand softly.

"Past mistakes can be forgiven," Penelope whispers. "But we won't let Charlie go without. Look around you, there's so much love in this room alone, your son will be well taken care of." Looking up, Lisa gives Penelope a watery smile.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"No thanks necessary," Penelope replies as she reaches out to dry the woman's face with the sleeve of her cardigan. "Now let's get Mike down here to discuss this."


	7. Chapter 7

"Honestly, you call that a pass?" Dani whispers harshly to Penelope as the both of them sit crossed legged in front of the television with game controllers in their hands.

"I don't know what to call it since I don't know anything about football," Penelope replies. "Except that those butts look delicious in those tight pants."

"Shit," Dani replies as she fumbles the ball and Penelope picks it up turning her guy in the other direction and taking off down the field. "Yeah, that's an added bonus to watching the game."

"YES!" Penelope shouts before clamping her hands over her mouth and giggling as she scored another touchdown. "For a sport, I like this game."

"I don't understand how you keep beating me," Dani mumbles as she chooses her next play. She watches Penelope cycle through her choices in the dimly lit room. "Why are you up anyway?"

Penelope shrugs and pushes her glasses further up her nose with a smile, "I'm not used to so much downtime," she admits. "The team is usually on a case by now."

"How do you handle that," Dani asks as she takes a moment to pull a brown object off of the table behind them and places it between her lips before lighting it. Penelope looks over at the woman as she flips the object over and blows softly at the end. She notices that there isn't a ring sitting on her finger and makes a note to ask Luke about it later in the day. "Him being in danger all the time, I mean," Dani clarifies as she takes a hit. Penelope takes a few seconds to watch the smoke curl out of her mouth. She answers Penelope's question, "It's a blunt, this was a cigar but I cut it open and threw out the guts and then rolled...anyway how do you do it?"

"It's hard," Penelope answers as she looks back at the game and finally selecting her play. "He wasn't my...I love my entire team and I worry about them each time they get on that damn jet or in those SUV's and whisk themselves away to save the world,' she pauses and takes a deep breathe, trying to steady the erratic beating of her heart. "I worry about all of them when they're out there. Are they safe? Have they slept? Did they eat? And when they call sometimes they sound so tired that all I want to do is wrap them in a hug and hold them until they sleep." She turns her head to look at Dani, watching silently as the woman pulls another drag from the blunt. "But they're good at their jobs, and I know that they are keeping each other safe, and they have always come home to me. Sometimes they're injured and I fret over them for days, but they always come home."

"And now," Dani asks, blowing the smoke out into the room and Penelope watches it dissipate around them. "With you dating Lu?" Penelope lets her eyes travel to the bedroom door that housed her sleeping boyfriend and thinks about the question. She wasn't sure that she actually had an answer for Dani because she didn't ever have to think about it before. Sure she loved her team, but she was never _in love_ with a member of her team, she realizes. She had had feelings for Derek at one point, loved the man enough for him to be considered her brother and she would have surely fallen apart had anything ever happened to him. But now, with Luke, and everything that she could see, everything that they could potentially be… How would she handle it if she ever got news of him being hurt? Would she be able to control herself if he pulled any of the stunts that Derek used to? Would she be able to stop herself from running into danger after him?

"I'm…," Penelope takes a deep breath and places the controller on the floor in front of her and looks down at her trembling hands. "I'm not sure," she finally admits. "I know society has always told us that the men take care of the women, that the men provide, the men protect but there are badass women in this world and on my team and I consider myself one of them. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle any of this once we leave this perfect little bubble we've created."

"You're stronger than I am," Dani tells the woman as she leans back against the table with a sigh. "I don't think I'd survive being with Sac if he was determined to carry a gun and race off to save people all over the country, and sometimes I think that that makes me selfish." Penelope shakes her head.

"Not at all," she tells Dani softly. "It's hard watching them walk away each and every time because you're not sure if they're coming back because you're not sure what they're walking into when they reach their destination. My stomach is always in knots until I know they are safely back in Virginia with me, but even then things don't always go according to plan. It's okay to know that you couldn't handle it." Penelope takes another deep breath and lets out a chuckle. "Before Luke joined the team there was Derek, who happens to be one of my very close friends, and he was with us for eleven years. But he found a wonderful woman and then he was kidnapped and scared all of us, and when we finally found him he asked her to marry him and she told him that she was pregnant, and before I knew it Derek had resigned. He had seen other people lose their marriages, their children, themselves to our job and he didn't want to turn out like that so he made a choice and I had to respect it."

Dani looks at her with a soft smile and motions for the woman to continue speaking.

"Anyway, we soon found out that there was a mass prison break and here we were a man short and that's how Luke showed up in my life, and when I tell you that I hated the sight of him, well I may be lying just a bit." Dani laughs loudly before clamping her mouth shut and darting her eyes between the two closed bedroom doors. When she settles down she gives Penelope a look that the woman can clearly read. Dani wasn't buying her bullshit. "Okay, I'm lying a lot because look at him, and he was nice and he asked questions, and apparently he can cook." Penelope shrugs. "But he wasn't Derek. Anyway, I guess this is my long-winded way of saying that people leave no matter what you do, so I try not to focus on the bad what-ifs, but the good ones. Because when my team, and now my boyfriend, walk away from me I have to have faith that they will all come back and in one piece."

"But the gun thing," Dani begins causing Penelope to laugh.

"It's actually quite sexy," the blonde woman replies. "Have you ever seen bulging muscles and a stern face holding a gun, because I have and let me tell you..." Penelope fans at her face and rolls her eyes before devolving into a fit of giggles with the woman sitting beside her.

"It's three in the fucking morning! Are you two cackling hens ever going to go to sleep?" Penelope looks up to see a very disheveled Mike standing in the doorway to his childhood bedroom with one eye closed. She glances back at Dani before the two of them erupt into another round of laughter as the man grumbles his way to the bathroom and slams the door shut behind him.

"I guess we should probably go to bed," Penelope says as she shuts down the gaming console and stands. She turns and helps Dani to her feet.

"Yeah, I have to get back to work in the morning, but Sac and I are going to be staying here until after Lu and Mike head back home," Dani tells her softly. "Sac is actually happy that Lu came home this year, it's the first one since..."

"Lisa," Penelope finishes the sentence sadly.

"Yeah, anyway, goodnight Pen," Dani tells her as she walks towards the stairs. "I totally want a rematch before you leave."

* * *

"Bend your knees," Luke tells her as he picks her up off of the ice for the tenth time in a row. "You're standing too straight." Penelope glares up at the man as she slips and falls onto the ice again. Luke laughs loudly as he reaches out to her again and helps pull her to her feet.

"I'm a graceful person, Luke," Penelope grumbles once she's standing again. "I walk in heels and could probably do it for a living if I wasn't better with computer systems, but this isn't human." Luke grasps her hands in his own as he begins to slide backward.

"Okay," he tells her as he pulls her along with him slowly. "Now point your toes outward to get moving, slowly, and now with the other foot...that's good." Penelope stiffens when Luke moves to take his hand out of hers. "I'm going to skate beside you but I haven't fallen in years so..."

"Pull you down with me, got it," Penelope mutters as she concentrates on keeping her knees bent. She continues to move her feet slowly and for the first time since he had pulled her into this death trap, the woman found herself enjoying it. "How did you learn to skate?" She asks.

"Ice hockey," Luke replies simply. "We used to play street hockey as kids and I always wanted to play it on the ice, so I tried it out and looked a lot like you right now for a long time, but I eventually got the hang of it." He glances over at her with a warm smile. Penelope pulls her bottom lip into her mouth as they come up to a curve in the rink. "Okay now just move your shoulders, but keep doing what you're doing with your feet." Penelope's head snaps up to look at his and with a small shout, she tumbles backward onto the ice. She's grateful that the rink isn't that full as she lays on the ice, looking up at the sky.

"I'm just going to continue to live the rest of my life here," Penelope tells Luke as she rolls over and tries to get to her feet. "But I swear if I don't get any hot chocolate I am not sleeping in the same bed with you tonight."

"Going to play video games with Dani until three again are you," he teases as they begin to slowly make their way around the rink again. "I heard that you beat her. She doesn't usually like to lose, especially not at football." Penelope laughs.

"We didn't finish the game," she tells Luke, her eyes trained on the motion of her feet. "We got to talking about work and then we started laughing and then Mike came out to yell at us."

"I played her in Monopoly once," Luke laughs. "She had me convinced that if I traded her two of my orange cards and Park Place, that it would be a better deal for me in the long run." He looks over at Penelope. "Two turns later she had built hotels everywhere and nobody was safe. I'll never play that game with her again, you're brave."

"We had fun," Penelope tells him as they approach the gate and she sighs at the opportunity for freedom. "I wouldn't have minded if I lost." He pulls her to a gentle stop and takes her face between his gloved hands and presses his lips to hers softly. Penelope feels as if her head is spinning around the ice as he slowly moves his lips against hers and she finds herself wondering how they had gotten here. When did they become so comfortable around each other that kissing out in the open like this was natural, was welcomed, was wanted? She wasn't sure, but she knew that as long as his lips kept moving against hers she wouldn't question anything ever again. And that too, was another thing that scared her, especially after the conversation from last night. Luke pulls back from the embrace and smiles down at her before guiding her to the gate and opening it.

"Good," Luke tells her as he helps her off of the ice. "Because she's planning a very elaborate and public rematch. I'm going to have to teach you some things if we plan to beat her again."

"I don't have to beat her..." Penelope begins but is soon cut off.

"Oh no, we _have_ to beat her." And judging by the look on her boyfriend's face she knew that he was completely serious.

"Okay," she laughs. "Teach me everything you know."

* * *

"I just want you to know, Alvez, that it took you exactly three days to get me the hot chocolate you promised before we left my apartment," Penelope tells the man as she holds a steaming cup in front of her with a smile. She closes her eyes and lets the steam curl into her face, letting out a dreamy sigh. "And I'm not counting the travel time between home and here so consider that my good deed of the day."

"Okay," Luke chuckles as he slides into the booth across from her and pulls his own cup of coffee to his lips. "I mean I could have made you some at any time, and Abuela only lives a few blocks over..." he shrugs his shoulders and takes a sip from his cup as the woman glares across the table at him. "I find you simply adorable when you glare at me."

"You should find me intimidating," Penelope says before blowing on the surface of her drink. "Because that's what I'm going for."

"You should probably work on that," Luke tells her as he chuckles again. Penelope watches as he nudges a menu closer to her hands and rolls her eyes before abandoning her cup of delicious chocolate in favor of something to eat. "I know you have to be hungry after falling on your ass so many times today."

"Very funny," Penelope mutters as she flips open the menu. "I'm pretty sure my derriere is going to be permanently bruised from today's outing." Luke chokes on the sip of coffee he had just taken and stares at the woman across the table.

"I can uh," he coughs. "I can take care of that for you," Luke finally tells her with a wide grin. Penelope glances up from the menu, her mouth dropping open slightly as Luke blushes and takes another sip of his coffee. "I mean if you want me to."

"The uh...veggie scramble looks good," Penelope finally whispers without taking her eyes off of Luke's face. "I guess that also sounds good." She's not entirely sure what possessed her to say it, but once she does she blushes herself and realizes that she meant every word.

"I usually get the bacon cheeseburger," Luke tells her. He diffuses the tension between them with a wide smile as Penelope closes her menu and wraps her still chilled fingers around her mug. She pulls a face at the mention of the meat causing Luke to laugh loudly. Penelope finds herself watching him as he tilts his head back to laugh, so completely mesmerized at the sight of him completely relaxed and finds herself laughing along to a joke she didn't know the punch line to. She realizes that the fluttering in her stomach hadn't ever stopped in the past two years, that every time she set her eyes on the man, it assaulted her ten fold. The attraction had always been there, bubbling just under the surface like she had told Gabby, and Penelope realizes that she's grateful that the man had chipped away at her layers. That he had actually seen through to the real her and not the face she was putting up for the man. She was glad that he didn't let her harassment of him cloud what could have actually happened between them. _Don't be scared_ , Penelope tells herself, _just because you could love him doesn't mean you love him right now._

"What was that?" Luke asks her as he pulls his phone from his pocket in order to check the time. Penelope stalls as the waitress approaches them, taking their orders and walking away, before she turns to the man with a smile.

"Nothing," Penelope says, "Just nothing."

"I could love you too," Luke tells her. "One day, probably soon..." It's Penelope's turn to choke on her hot chocolate. The woman holds her hand to her mouth as the liquid dribbles from her lips as she glances up at him.

"So bacon cheeseburger," she tries to change the subject. "I haven't had one of those in years. My dad used to make them all the time, they were his favorite." She glances around the restaurant to avoid looking him in the eye and lets out a small gasp when she recognizes a familiar face. Penelope reaches out to tap his hand with the back of hers and points across the room. "Should we call them over?" Luke nods and stands from the booth. She takes a deep breath as she slides down in her chair, a blush creeping into her cheeks at the fact that she had said that she could come to love him. But, another part of her replies, he returned the sentiment. She smiles widely at Charlie as the small boy approaches and slides across the seat, patting the vinyl near her.

"Hi Ms. Penelope," Charlie says as he slides into the booth near her. "We wanted to get food while Mom is at the Doctor's," his brown eyes dart over to Mike quickly before looking back at the blonde woman. "He wasn't talking much, just staring at me..." he lowers his voice. "Kind of like they're doing right now." Penelope laughs and leans down to whisper to the small child.

"Your Uncle Luke stares at me all the time." She glances at the men sitting across the booth from them. "It must be an Alvez thing..."

"Good thing my last name is Hazard then," Charlie whispers back to the woman. "Because staring is rude." Penelope leans back in her seat, letting out a loud laugh as the food arrives. She nods and reaches out to ruffle the hair on Charlie's head.

"Yeah, it is kind of rude, isn't it?" The boy nods before picking up one of his chicken fingers and dunks it into his honey mustard.

"Mom says to give him a while," Charlie continues while chewing his food. "But I've already been waiting eight years, I'm not really sure how much longer I can wait."

"Alright, kid," Mike interjects the conversation while pushing at Charlie's plate. "Eat your dinner." Penelope looks over at Luke with a small smile before ducking her eyes back to her veggie scramble as the man picks up his cheeseburger and takes a large bite and winks at her. "So, you two have any plans for tonight?" Mike asks, looking between Luke and Penelope. "Because it's the yearly viewing of..." he drums his hands on the table. "Die Hard."

"Die Hard is not a Christmas movie," Penelope mutters as she looks between the boys.

"Oh, but it is," Luke tells her while pointing a french fry at her. "In this family it is." She rolls her eyes and looks down at Charlie, hoping to find an ally, but instead, she finds the boy nodding his head quickly while sipping his juice.

* * *

"I'm so sore," Penelope groans as she climbs face down onto the bed. She turns her head to look over at Luke while folding her arms under her head. The woman lets her muscles relax as she closes her eyes, her thoughts drifting back to their day together. "And I want hot chocolate."

"I'm sorry that you fell so much," Luke whispers as he slides closer to her. "I figured if you could walk in heels then you'd be a natural on skates."

"Heels are easy, Luke," Penelope mutters while turning on her side. She lays her hand over his heart, feeling the steady thud under her fingertips. Remembering back to the day before when she was straddling his waist on the couch, rolling her hips softly against his own, Penelope lets out a soft sigh and grips his t-shirt in her fist. She pulls him closer to her, pressing her lips to his roughly, and biting bottom lip. It doesn't surprise her when the man lifts himself up onto his right elbow and pulls her face closer to his with his left hand. Their passion was easy, as he pushes her onto her back and settles between her legs. Penelope moans loudly when he rolls his hips into hers as he moves his lips to kiss down her jaw. He bites at her neck, pulling her skin into his mouth and sucking softly. Penelope slides her hands under his shirt, pulling the material up his back as she moves her hands across his skin. Luke stops pressing kisses to her neck in order for the woman to pull his shirt over his head. He chuckles when she tosses it across the room and leans up to grip his face and bring his lips back to hers.

Luke pushes her back against the pillows before trailing his hands along her legs, causing Penelope to shiver. His hands were like hot coals running against her skin, covering too much but not enough at the same time as he lifts her shirt and presses his lips to her stomach. She wants to feel self-conscious, should feel at least slightly embarrassed, but the feeling of his lips trailing up her stomach causes the woman to lift her back up from the mattress. The pain on her backside completely forgotten as she lets her legs fall open wider, his fingertips creating a pathway for his mouth as he lifts her shirt, exposing the sports bra she had thrown on for their annual viewing of Die Hard. The man slides his hands under the tight band, raising it off of her breasts and exposing them to not only him but the cool air of the bedroom. She holds her breath in anticipation as he hovers his mouth above her breasts, and Penelope finds that she's impatient as she presses her chest into his face. Luke chuckles, his dark eyes blown wide with lust as he looks up at her and slowly drags his chin across her hardened nipples. Penelope lets out a low moan as her hands fly to grip his hair.

"Please," she whispers, breathless. Wanting so badly to feel his lips on her body, wanting to feel him covering her with his own sculpted lines. In this moment the only thing she wants is to feel him connected with her in the most carnal way, hips thrusting so quickly together they'd knock the headboard into the wall. Groans so mingled that neither of them will be able to distinguish which sound came from who, but instead she stares into his eyes with her chest heaving against his face. She wasn't going to beg him to touch her, not any more than she already had, and when she had finally given up waiting the man slides his hand down the front of her pants and traces his fingers lightly on the area of her body that lays just above her sex. Penelope whines, sliding her hips upward so that his hand would slip further into her pants and the woman hisses when one of his fingers slides across her clitoris. Penelope reaches between them, sliding her palm against the length of him and groans as he covers her right nipple with his mouth. She closes her hand around him over his sweatpants, letting her hand tug lightly across the length of him. He jerks his hips closer to her, a groan sounding from around her breast and Penelope decides to dip her hand into his pants as well.

She had surely died and gone to heaven, or at least she thought she had, as he slides his warm tongue against her. Penelope finds that she can't think straight anymore as he dips his hand further against her sex, sliding a finger into her damp opening as she tosses her head back against the pillows and closes her eyes. A loud moan pours from her throat, and she finds that she doesn't care who in this house could hear her as she lets go. Luke slowly began moving his hips, sliding himself in and out of her grasp as he moved his lips from one breast to the other. Penelope lets out another loud moan before pulling his face up to hers by his hair. Luke kisses her deeply, his fingers still sliding in and out of her sex and dips his tongue into her mouth as she moans loudly again.

"We should stop," he hisses as she squeezes her hand around him. Luke keeps his mouth pressed firmly against hers as she shakes her head. Coherent thoughts have left her, and Penelope finds that she no longer knows how to speak as she removes her hand from around his length. The woman does the only thing that makes sense to her in the moment and pushes his pants down over his hips, before gripping him again. "Penelope," he whines as she runs her hand down his shaft and then slowly back up. "I don't have, fuck." She places her mouth on his again, her hand speeding up to keep in time with her own. She could feel her orgasm building inside of her, and after all of the interruptions they have had in the few short times they had been together, she wasn't going to stop. "Condoms." Luke finally manages to finish his sentence causing Penelope to still underneath him. She finds herself shrugging before pressing her mouth to his again, and she's not entirely sure what she's thinking as she pulls him closer to her as she resumes her hand motions.

"Lu, your dad is starting...OH," Luke groans as he quickly moves to pull up his pants, turning to look at the doorway completely horrified. Penelope slides her eyes shut as she hears the door slam, and Gabby shouting something in Spanish. Penelope would have found this hilarious had it not been happening to her. She stares up at the ceiling, her body suddenly cold from the loss of him as he chases his mother out of the bedroom. _"Are you boys serious, am I running a brothel?"_ Penelope hears another door slam shut and covers her face with a pillow, using her other hand to pull her shirt back down. This wasn't happening to her, she thought, this couldn't be happening to her. Why was this happening to her...again?

" _Ma,"_ Penelope hears both Luke and Mike shout out at the same time. _"Don't you knock?"_ Mike finishes as Luke stands with his hands on his hips. Penelope sits up on the bed, running her hands through her hair and pushing it out of her face with a harsh exhale. Her heart rate had finally returned to normal as she watches Steve walking out of the other bedroom while pulling a shirt on. The man smiles brightly as he enters the room and presses a kiss to Gabby's cheek.

"Hey Mama," he tells her as he tosses himself onto the couch.

"Ma," Mike begins, running his fingers through his hair and looking over at Luke. "I wanted to tell you, I just didn't know how, and well..."

"We're dating and apparently soon we're going to be raising a kid together," Steve says as he folds his hands behind his head. Penelope had to admit that she was jealous of the nonchalant way he was handling everything. "Hey blondie, you going to come out here and join in on the fun?"

"No," Penelope shouts back immediately, sticking her tongue out at Luke when he turns around to look at her.

"Michael, you didn't have to hide this from us, baby," Gabby says softly as she approaches her son and presses her hand to his cheek. "We already knew."

" _What is taking so long, Gabby,"_ Toi shouts up the stairs and Penelope finds herself praying that the man doesn't come up and join in the embarrassment. " _I want to start this movie!"_

"Toi, just...your boys were indecent," Gabby shouts back. "Actually they were all were." Penelope can hear Toi chuckle and finds that she's not sure how this is happening to her. She finds herself asking the same question over and over again, trying to figure out how she ended up here. Penelope flops back onto the bed and stares up at the skylight, trying to figure out if it opened at all.

" _I don't care what they were doing Gabby,"_ Toi finally says after he stops laughing. _"I'm starting this movie in five minutes and I made popcorn and hot cocoa for Penelope."_ The thought of hot chocolate causes Penelope to sit up in the bed before racing off to grab Luke's t-shirt and tossing it at the man. He catches it and slides it over his shoulders before smiling at her.

"Does the skylight open," Penelope asks. "Because I'm planning on jumping after this movie is over."

"I'll jump with you," Luke tells her softly as he guides her down the stairs. "But it is my Abuela's hot chocolate, so maybe we can jump after the movie?" Penelope nods and turns to him at the bottom of the stairs.

"One kiss before we go downstairs?" She asks him.

"Chica, I'd love to," Luke tells her as he pulls her down the hall towards the other staircase. "But clearly one kiss with us leads to so much more and they will come back to find us. We are going to watch the best Christmas movie ever made after all," Luke laughs.

"It's not a Christmas movie, Luke," Penelope whines.

"Blasphemy woman," Luke whispers as he presses his lips to her temple when they reach the final landing. "People have been excommunicated for less."


	8. Chapter 8

"Good morning," Luke whispers. Penelope can feel his breath on the back of her neck as he peppers a series of kisses through her hair. She keeps her eyes closed and burrows deeper under the blankets, scooting herself closer to him in the process. Yawning, the woman lifts her hand to scratch at the back of his head, pulling it closer to her as he continues to kiss her neck.

"Good morning, handsome," Penelope whispers back. She wonders if it was normal for her heart to begin racing so soon after waking up. Should she be alarmed that her breath was coming in shallow gasps each time his lips touched her skin. She had never felt like this before...not with Shane, not with Paul, or Kevin, or Sam...or Derek. The thought strikes her breathless, her eyes snap open and she finds herself staring at a picture of the Alvez brothers when they were younger.

"Did you know that you talk in your sleep," he mutters softly as he uses his chin to move her hair out of his way. His lips press lightly to the skin behind her ear. Penelope shivers as he pulls her tighter against his chest and he buries his face between her shoulder and neck. She lets out a nervous giggle because she did know that she talked in her sleep but she wasn't even sure what about. Instead of telling him that she knew she shakes her head.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah," he laughs. "You seem to really miss Sergio," he continues speaking, trailing his lips along the shell of her ear. She shivers again. "Next time we'll bring him with us."

"Next time," she questions softly. Her stomach flutters nervously as she awaits his answer. She finds that this could be it for her, that he could essentially be it, and she is scared that she might screw this up. She wasn't the easiest to get along with, in the long run, liking things the way she had had them for most of her life, and most men got fed up with her the longer they stayed. His lips continue to kiss her neck as she speaks. "You want there to be a next time?"

"Of course, Chica," Luke chuckles as he presses a kiss to her cheek. "I want so many things with you. Things that are scaring me because I've never felt them before." Penelope stills in his arms as her mind races. Was he thinking the same things that she was? Was Gabby right when she told Penelope that she and Luke were falling in love... _could we already be in love?_ She asks herself as her heart begins to beat rapidly in her chest. Blinking slowly to clear the haze from her mind as he continues kissing her skin.

"Oh," she squeaks. Penelope trails her fingers along his arms slowly as she continues to stare at the picture on his nightstand. She wonders if eventually a picture of the two of them will join the frame currently sitting on the surface. "I've been pretty scared too," she finally admits softly. "I mean, this is...different."

"Different," he asks. She can feel him lift himself up onto his elbow behind her, and suddenly her face is hot as he stares down at her. Using his left arm he grips her shoulder and rolls her onto her back gently. Penelope's stomach flutters again, clenching as she looks up at him recognizing the look he was giving her. She had been staring at him the same way the past few months, had been staring at herself in the mirror the same way when she thought of him. Penelope realizes as she reaches up to place her palm against his cheek that she loves him and opens her mouth to tell him but stops herself. _What if he doesn't feel the same? What if it's too soon...what if he feels like it's too soon…_

"I've never felt like this before," she tells him as she maintains eye contact. She was afraid that if she blinked that this would all fade away, afraid that if she blinked that she would wake up and find that this would be a dream. "Or this soon for that matter. My stomach flutters around you and my heart beats faster than it ever has and it...hurts, I'm not sure that's right. But it's not a bad hurt. Sometimes I can't breathe around you because I'm so overwhelmed with this feeling...and I'm not sure what it was, or I wasn't sure until a few seconds ago." Luke turns his head and presses a kiss to her palm with a smile. She closes her eyes when he does and waits for him to make the next move.

"Honestly," he whispers. Penelope can feel him moving closer to her as the blankets shift around them and the sun begins beating hotter onto them. "I never thought I'd find someone who made me feel this way again." He takes a shuddering breath and Penelope matches him with one of her own. She keeps her eyes closed, afraid now that if she opens them all of this will disappear and that she will be back in the elevator wearing her dress with the mistletoe and he would be upset over missing his flight. "I don't want to scare you, Penelope."

"I'm not scared." The woman opens her eyes to find his brown ones staring back at her in disbelief. "Okay, I'm a little scared but I think that's normal for people in a brand new relationship."

"I wouldn't say that this relationship is new," he whispers as he leans down to press a kiss to her lips. "I've been pining for you since I met you."

"Lies," Penelope laughs as she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him back down for another kiss. "I didn't speak to you until that day in the elevator."

"When you made up your boyfriend," Luke interjects. "And told me you like to keep things professional as if I didn't see you with the rest of the team before that conversation."

"He wasn't made up," she defends. "He just wasn't human." Luke lets out a booming laugh as he drops his head to her shoulder. Penelope lets herself laugh along with him, sliding her arms down his back to wrap around his waist.

"You were talking about Sergio," Luke finally asks her. "And you gave me shit about letting you believe that Roxy was my girlfriend." He laughs again while rolling onto his back and pulling the woman back into his chest. Penelope settles her head onto his chest and chuckles while looking up at him. Penelope looks at the clock on his other nightstand and lets out a yawn.

"What do we have planned for today," she asks while walking her fingers up the middle of his stomach. "And does it include more sleep?"

"Mom and dad have a party each year," Luke tells her again while yawning himself. "So we should probably hide out for the rest of the day before we get roped into helping."

"I wouldn't mind helping," Penelope responds, her eyes fluttering closed. "I love being here with you."

He presses a kiss to her temple as her breathing begins to even out, "I love it too."

* * *

"Okay Pen, can I call you that," Beni asks as she ties an apron around her waist and smiles at the other woman. She turns to her son as Penelope nods quickly and accepts the other apron that is being handed to her. "We're going to teach you how to create the Alvez hot chocolate," the older woman continues seriously. "It's a family secret so that means you're stuck with mi nieto, understood?" Penelope nods again as her heart begins to race. Yet again, the topic of being with Luke...remaining with Luke causes her stomach to clench so tightly that she's not sure what's happening.

"Yes, ma'am," Penelope says after a few moments of silence.

"Beni," the woman corrects her softly as she turns to the island and the ingredients spread out before her. "Now you're the first person I've shown this to," Beni tells her while looking over her shoulder. "The others have never been as interested in hot chocolate and I'm not going to waste my time showing them something that will eventually die out," she waves her hands around her. "But you, , you seem like you will pass along the recipe to your future children and grandchildren." Penelope pauses as she looks between Beni and Toi with wide eyes. _Children, plural, as in more than one,_ Penelope thinks to herself.

"Ma," Toi interjects himself when he sees Penelope beginning to panic. "They've only started dating, let's not scare her away with talks of children." Beni sucks her teeth and swats at his arm before turning back to Penelope with a smile.

"Mi hijo," she says softly. "They're in love, and if you can't see it then you're blind. Now, let's make this hot chocolate for this party tonight." Penelope takes a deep breath and lets her mind race through what Beni had just uttered and shakes her head softly as the mother and son begin detailing how to make the hot chocolate she had heard so much about on their way to New York.

"Okay, so we have to chop all of this chocolate," Toi says while reaching for some of the bars and sliding the others across the island to Penelope with a soft smile. "This is the longest part of the recipe but it was fun as a kid to watch my parents make the hot chocolate while singing and dancing."

"Did you and Gabby do this with the boys when they were younger," Penelope finds herself asking. Toi laughs loudly and shakes his head before glancing over at his mother.

"Those boys wouldn't stay still long enough for us to brush their hair," Toi tells her eventually. "I'm surprised they both take such good care of their hair now because we thought for sure they would end up bald. But let us hope that you never have to see either one of them without their hair," he glances over at his mother before leaning towards Penelope with a smile. "Eggheads, the both of them."

"I don't believe it," she laughs while continuing to chop the chocolate.

"Oh, you should believe it," Beni says over her shoulder as she measures out the milk. "Both of those boys had the biggest heads I have ever seen when they were born. Gabby is a saint," she chuckles while turning back to the island.

"And they just seemed to get bigger until their bodies just caught up," Toi says while Beni nods and begins helping to chop up the chocolate bars.

"Oh, baby, do you remember when your Papa gave Lu the baseball bat for Christmas," Beni exclaims while turning to her son with a wide smile. She turns back to Penelope with the same smile before saying, "I have never seen that boy smile so much in my life until he held that bat. And after that, he was always sneaking off to the high school to watch the boys practice and he'd be in the backyard for hours no matter what time of the day or year he was out in the backyard practicing. That boy loved to play that game," she sighs softly while placing some of the chocolate shavings to the side.

"He was very determined," Toi says softly.

"Why did he stop playing?" Penelope asks. She knew that Luke had touched upon the subject on their first night here.

"He joined the Army," Beni tells her sadly. "I was very proud of him and I still am. All of the good you both do in this country." Penelope shakes her head as she moves her chocolate shavings over to the other pile.

"They're the real heroes," Penelope tells them both. "They're always in danger and I'm at home worrying about them and praying for their safe return."

"Luke says you're the real hero on the team," Beni replies. "That boy has stars in his eyes whenever he speaks of you and all of the information you provide to them. He tells us all the time that there are a lot of times they would be stuck if they didn't have you." Penelope blushes and ducks her head. She trains her eyes on her trembling hands as she continues to chop the never-ending pile of chocolate.

"Okay, let's get this finished up," Toi checks his watch and looks towards the door to the kitchen and shudders. "If this isn't completed on time I just may be getting divorced this year."

* * *

Luke's fingers are warm against her hip as they stand off in the corner of the living room. The man is staring out of the window, his face angled towards the night sky. Penelope reaches down to cover his hand with her own, sliding her palm up his forearm in order to get his attention.

"Luke," she asks softly. "Are you okay?" The man darts his eyes back to her face with a soft smile and nods. He reaches up with the hand that was clutching his glass of whiskey and pushes a tendril of hair off of her forehead.

"I'm fine," he whispers to her before leaning down to gently kiss her on the forehead. Penelope closes her eyes and relaxes into him as he keeps his lips pressed against her. "Perfect actually," he amends.

"Then why do you look so down," she asks while laying her hand on his chest, her fingertips circling the button of his shirt that is eye level with her.

"Honestly," he says while gripping her chin and tilting it up to him. He lightly pecks her lips before he leans back and smiles at her. "I just want to be alone with you." Penelope blushes and tries to duck her head but his fingers on her chin keep her eyes connected with his. Luke leans down to kiss her again and Penelope tries her hardest to not wrap her arms around his neck and deepen the kiss. She's mindful of the other people around them, knowing that they tend to get carried away the longer their lips are pressed together. All too soon Luke leans back and places another kiss on her forehead.

She wants to tell him that they could, theoretically, sneak off without someone noticing them missing for a long while but instead she takes a sip of her hot chocolate and smiles at the man. Penelope nods and lets her eyes scan the room before landing on Lisa's dark eyes staring at them from across the room. It takes her a moment to recognize the look she was currently receiving and smiles softly at the man. Penelope doesn't know how she would feel if she had to watch what was supposed to be her life play out before her very eyes. She gives the woman a sad smile before turning her attention back to Luke and whispers, "Lisa doesn't look happy."

"Yeah," he mutters before he takes a sip of his whiskey. Penelope watches his eyes dart over to his ex-girlfriend and lays her head on his chest. "She was never one to smile," he tells her before dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "But I don't want to talk about Lisa. I want to talk about all the things I want to do to you once I get you alone," he finishes with a wicked grin. Penelope lets out a whimper and tries her hardest not to squirm at the clench of pleasure that ripples through her at his words. Just the thought of him causing her to become so aroused, even around all of these strangers.

"Behave yourself, Luke Alvez," Penelope tells him before taking another sip of her hot chocolate. The man lets out a small chuckle before he takes another sip of his whiskey and leans down to press his lips against the shell of her ear. She pauses as his breath hits her skin and shivers visibly before she can stop herself.

"I want your thighs keeping my ears warm," he whispers. "It is twenty degrees outside after all." She whimpers again and blushes deeply before covering her mouth with her mug and licking at the rim. Luke groans and places a kiss behind her ear. Penelope lifts her shoulder and giggles before straightening up and nudging Luke with her elbow. He looks up and pulls his lips from her neck. Turning he faces his grandmother and a smaller woman. "Abuela, Mrs. Swanson, how are you lovely ladies this evening?" Penelope watches with a smile as he places a kiss on the cheeks of each woman before returning his arm to her waist and dragging her into his side.

"I'm well, Luke, thank you," Mrs. Swanson replies. Penelope looks at the woman from behind her glasses. She was wearing a simple purple dress with black flats and had her purse tucked delicately under her right arm. Much like the blonde woman, Mrs. Swanson was holding a mug of hot chocolate. Her brown hair was turning silver at the edges and her smile was warm as she directed her eyes from Luke to Penelope. "And who is this beautiful young lady?"

Luke beams down at her before speaking, "this is Penelope, my gorgeous girlfriend." The pride in his voice strikes Penelope so close to her heart that she can't help but smile up at him, completely ignoring the woman she was just introduced to. After a few moments, she turns to Mrs. Swanson and extends her hand. She shakes the older woman's hand before leaning her head against Luke's chest again.

"You two are such an adorable couple," the woman gushes before turning to Beni with a glint in her eye. "Oh, Beni, can you just imagine their children!" Penelope stills in Luke's grasp, her eyes darting from Beni to Mrs. Swanson and then quickly up to Luke. Her future reproduction seemed to be the hot topic of conversation today and she wasn't sure if she was really ready to discuss that subject. Penelope lets out a small cough before taking another sip from her mug, suddenly she wishes that she had allowed Jay to spike her drink before she walked away from him earlier.

"Patty," Beni begins with a laugh as she tries to diffuse the tension around them. "Luke and Penelope have only started dating, marriage and children are still far off." She fixes Luke with a playful glare before smiling warmly at Penelope.

"But there will be a wedding right," Mrs. Swanson asks excitedly. "Mike never seems like he is going to settle down and that other grandson of yours still hasn't asked his vulgar girlfriend to marry him." Penelope stiffens, her opinion on this woman quickly changing as she described Dani.

"Luke still has a little bit of chasing to do before I agree to marry him," Penelope says with a fake smile plastered on her face. She looks up at Luke who darts his eyes to the side and she finds that she agrees with him. "If you'll excuse us," she finishes politely before stepping in front of Luke. The man guides her to the front of the house with his hand on her back. He stops to grab their jackets and places his glass into the kitchen sink before looking around. Luke slides her jacket up her arms and quickly drags her out of the kitchen door and around to the side of the house. Once they are alone Penelope lets out a loud laugh.

Before she can process what is happening Luke's lips are on hers, effectively cutting her laugh short as he grips her face and backs her up against the cool brick of the brownstone. She moans and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her as his hands trail down her arms and dip beneath her coat. Luke lifts her up and wraps her legs around his waist before pushing her back against the house again. He trails his tongue along the bottom of her mouth before sucking the red painted lip between his own. Penelope moans louder this time, her hands running up the back of his head to tug lightly on his strands. She lets out a small giggle as she continues to kiss the man. Penelope dips her tongue into his mouth and runs it along with his. She feels his hands sliding up the side of her thighs before his right-hand ghosts over her sex. The woman gasps as his cold fingers dip beneath her underwear and begin to dip between her folds and rub softly at her clit.

Penelope finds herself trying to move her hips faster with each swirl of his thumb along her bundle as she kisses the man soundly. She was close, closer than they had come at any point over the past few days when she hears the back door slam shut. The woman decides that she doesn't care, and she thinks that they are fairly well hidden on the side of the house as Luke continues to rub her, his fingers moving quickly as he was spurred on by the thrusting of her hips. She dips her head onto his shoulder and lets out a loud series of gasps as he dips two fingers into her and moves them in time with her hips. Turning his head Luke captures her lips with his own and passes his thumb over her clitoris one last time before she feels herself clench around his fingers. She lets out a low moan against his lips as she continues to move her hips slowly against his hand. The man lets out a laugh before dipping his tongue into her mouth again as he steps back and helps settle her back to the ground. She whines at the loss of his fingers inside of her and her cheeks flush a deep red when she looks up to find both fingers in Luke's mouth.

She's not sure how long they had been kissing outside, but her legs are freezing and her cheeks are raw, but she leans back against the side of the house and pulls the man back to her with a smile. Her hands running down the front of his pants and gripping him. He hisses as he looks down between the two of them, his eyes darkening when he sees her hands reaching for her belt buckle.

"There you two are," Jay says loudly as he turns the corner.

"Damn it, Jay!" Luke shouts as he leans his forehead against the top of Penelope's head. "What the hell is wrong with my family?" He asks her softly.

"You're making out with your girlfriend outside and you're mad at me," Jay laughs as he looks between the two of them. Penelope knew her cheeks were flushed and not just from the cold. "It's like you want to get caught." Luke glares at the man before reaching down to scoop a handful of snow and lets it sail across the space. Penelope laughs loudly when the snow hits Jay in the face. She squeals when a snowball is tossed in her direction and ducks just in time.

"Oh," she exclaims as she glares at the man playfully. "You're going to regret that," she tells him as she bends down to gather a handful of snow, packing it quickly before tossing it back at Jay with a loud laugh.

"No," Jay tells her softly as he backs away from the side of the house, luring the two of them into back into the yard. "You're going to regret it." Penelope's eyes widen as she rounds the corner of the house to find Dani and Sac waiting with snowballs already formed. The blonde woman lets out a squeak when they both lift their arms and aim at the couple, and she ducks behind Luke in order to avoid getting hit with the snowballs.

"Sorry," she shouts to Luke as they both hit him in the chest. "But you're used to cold winters!" Luke turns to glare down at her before pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

"All is fair in love and war right?" He asks her with his hand behind his back. Penelope nods slowly, not sure what she was supposed to say. Luke smiles at her again, this time wickedly as he places his palm over her face. Penelope shrieks as the cold snow lands on her skin and stomps her foot as she wipes her eyes.

"You...Newbie." Luke laughs loudly before leaning down to kiss her.

"As long as I can be your Newbie," he tells her softly.


	9. Chapter 9

Penelope finds herself sitting between Luke's legs on the floor of the game room on New Year's Eve. Her fingers are wrapped tightly around the black controller as she concentrates on the television screen in front of her. She bites down on her tongue as she leans forward while her thumbs press quickly across the buttons. Faintly she could hear the boys behind her, shouting for her to continue running down the field with her player, but she continues focusing her attention on the game in front of her. Dani was standing beside her, hopping from one foot to the other and cursing as she fumbles the ball again. Penelope recovers the ball and turns her player in order to run down the other side of the field.

"Shit," Dani shouts before flinging the controller onto the couch behind her. Penelope doesn't move her eyes as the woman continues talking beside her. "Fucking shit."

"Do you really have to use that language," Shai says in disgust, her eyes rolling over her children as they play in the corner of the room.

"Do you really have to be here," Dani quips as Penelope scores another touchdown bringing her score up to _28_ before she relaxes and selects her next play. "Don't you have a test to cheat on and blame on another person?"

"Really Danielle," Shai mutters under her breath as she glares across the room. "Grow up."

"You grow up," Dani retorts while turning to face the other woman. Penelope tucks her legs underneath her and tilts her head back in order to look up at Luke with a confused smile. He leans down and presses his lips to hers and shakes his head, whispering to her that she doesn't want to even know. "You almost got me expelled from school and you got my scholarship taken away," Dani continues to hiss at the other woman.

"I've already said that I was sorry, I don't know what more you want," Shai shouts across the room while pushing her hair out of her face.

"I want you to mean it," Dani tells her. "I want the life I planned, I was supposed to be a Doctor too but now I'm working two jobs just to put myself through school while you got my scholarship." Penelope looks back up at Luke as he shakes his head vigorously and she could see that he wants her to stay out of it, but she had come to love Dani in the short time that she had known the woman and felt a fierce need to protect her.

"You two are eventually going to be sisters," Penelope finally says softly as she looks between the two of them. "And I know that it sucks that things worked out the way that they did, but you two wouldn't be fighting like this if you didn't love each other." Dani and Shai look at her with narrowed eyes before turning back to face the other woman. "Maybe, we could just try and put the past behind us, like actually put it behind us."

"You were my best friend," Shai finally whispers across the room. "I never meant to blame you. I told them that someone was cheating and Mr. Harris and Mrs. Morrison assumed it was you and things snowballed before I could stop it. I'm sorry, honestly, I am."

"We were supposed to go to school together," Dani whispers. "We were supposed to be together forever and of course here we are in the same family the way we always hoped we would and we have barely talked in ten years." She lets her brown eyes flicker around the room before landing back on Shai's face. "I miss you. I've missed my best friend."

"I've missed you too," Shai admits softly while walking across the room. Penelope sniffles as she watches them embrace.

"Dude," Sac whispers and everyone turns to look at him. His eyes are wide as he stares at his girlfriend hugging his sister-in-law before turning to glance at Luke. "Your girl is a miracle worker." Penelope rolls her eyes and blushes at his words before turning her attention back to the two women who were currently crying as they hugged.

"We've been trying to get them to work their shit out for years," Jay tells her. "We just figured it was always going to be tense. How'd you do it?" Penelope shrugs with a far-off look on her face, remember back to a time when she had all of the people in her life that were supposed to be there.

"I wish someone would have cared enough to do this for me," she finally whispers to the four men without making eye contact with them. "I miss my brothers more than I will ever admit." Luke's hands land on her shoulders, his thumbs rubbing her shoulder blades softly.

"Dani," Luke finally shouts out. "Can my girlfriend get back to beating your ass now, or do we have to continue watching this Lifetime drama?" The woman glares over her shoulder at Luke before walking back to her controller and sitting on the edge of the couch with her legs open and her forearms resting on her knees.

"I'm not going to let her beat me," Dani whispers before she reaches out and punches Luke on the shoulder while he was taking a sip of his beer. The man sputters on the alcohol as it dribbles down his chin. "Besides, she's playing like you and I know how to beat you."

"You're talking a lot of shit for someone who got beat the other night," Luke mutters back to the woman. "My girl is going to beat you and it's going to be glorious." He turns to look at her. "Payback for Monopoly."

"You can't still be on that," Dani shouts as she jumps up from the couch as her player intercepts the ball from Penelope's quarterback and takes off down the field. She shouts loudly when she finally scores another touchdown and the field goal is cleared bringing the score to _21-28._ The girls both set up their next plays and Penelope immediately fumbles the ball, giving Dani the opening for another touchdown and field goal with less than a minute left on the play clock. "Look at all that shit you were talking, sorry Shai, but now I'm beating your girl..."

Luke leans down and whispers in her ear, telling her which play to call. Penelope listens and with twenty seconds on the clock, her team is lined up and ready for a field goal. She takes a deep breath, lines up her player and sets the game in motion before closing her eyes and hoping for the best. She smiles widely when she feels Luke wrap his arms around her neck and press a kiss to her cheek while Jay shouts out behind them. Penelope stands in order to shake hands with Dani with a wide smile, apologizing to the woman for beating her again. When she turns back to Luke the man pulls her into a tight hug and crashes his lips to her mouth.

"I think I love you," he whispers against her lips before kissing her again before she can respond. Penelope's mind goes blank as she kisses the man, not sure what she's supposed to say to him.

"Ew, that's how you get diseases," Daphne's little voice calls over from the corner of the room causing the couple to pull apart from each other. Luke is blushing a deep red and Penelope is looking away from him, not sure what she should be doing as she straightens her cardigan and avoids eye contact with her boyfriend. Penelope watches the child return to building a Lego structure with her brother and ignoring the slightly intoxicated adults around them.

"Really guys," Luke asks his cousin with an exasperated look while scratching the back of his neck.

"What," Jay says with a shrug. "I don't want to walk in on her with her partner who she's just brought home for the first time." There's a round of laughter as Penelope buries her face in her hands and turns away from the laughing family, completely mortified. When she lifts her face finally she sees the family interacting around her and watches them with a soft smile. She feels happy. Whole, content, and finds that she hadn't felt this way in a very long time. But, Penelope keeps her attention trained on the sentence he had just uttered to her and finds that she's not entirely sure how she should take it.

"What time is it?" Shai finally asks when the laughter has died down around them and Penelope looks around as Luke checks his watch.

"We have a few minutes until midnight," he announces as they head downstairs with the kids who had started yawning. Penelope remembers as Daphne had begged her parents to stay up in order to ring in the new year until they gave in with a smile. She hangs back and finds herself walking into the bedroom and climbing onto the bed and staring up at the stars she could see through the skylight. She jumps when his voice rings through the silence, "you don't want to come downstairs?"

Shaking her head, Penelope looks over at Luke with a soft smile and finally whispers, "I like the silence." Luke laughs and walks over to the bed and climbs onto the mattress before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his chest. "Did you mean it," she asks softly before hearing Luke stop breathing underneath her head.

"Yes," he whispers to her as he trails his fingers down her arm. "I know it's too soon but it's how I feel." Penelope inhales deeply as she keeps her eyes trained on the night sky and exhales shakily through her mouth.

"I think I love you too," she tells him. "I think I have for a long time and was too scared to admit it to myself." She smiles when they can hear the countdown being shouted two stories below them and Penelope turns to face him on the bed. Her heart is racing so fast in her chest that she's not sure that she will survive 2017. She thinks that it would be just her luck to finally find the person that makes her happy only to die seconds after admitting her feelings for the man. She shivers when his hands caress her cheeks and closes her eyes as his lips press to hers during a chorus of _Happy New Year_.

"Happy New Year, my Shining Star," he whispers against her lips with a smile.

"You're ridiculous," Penelope whispers back. "But, Happy New Year, Luke."

* * *

"So we'll see you in July," Gabby says as she hugs Penelope to her chest. "For the annual family vacation." Penelope nods her head as she moves over to hug Beni as well. "Lu, are you taking Roxy with you?" Penelope pauses and watches the conflict flash across Luke's face before stepping over to place her hand on his forearm.

"Don't worry," she tells him softly. "She can stay with me when you guys are out for longer than the sitter can handle, it's not a big deal and Serg and I would enjoy the company."

"You don't mind," he asks while scratching the back of his head nervously. It didn't make any sense to her that the man could hunt down serial killers, could tell her that he loved her not even ten hours ago, but was now nervous about asking her to watch his dog when he was out of town.

"I don't mind at all," Penelope laughs while taking his hand in her own and shrugs. "I figure we're going to be spending more time at one apartment or the other so she should get used to both places."

"Okay," he says while calling Roxy over. "We may have a case in July Ma, but if not we will both be there."

"I'll ask Emily for some time off," Penelope tells him quickly. "We both have enough vacation time saved up to take a year off, three days shouldn't be too hard to approve." Gabby nods before turning to Luke with a wide smile.

"I like her," she announces. "She's going to make you take time off to come see us. Don't let her go." Luke shakes his head and laughs at his mother.

"Ma, Penelope works more than I do," he announces and gasps when Penelope elbows him in the stomach before turning to hug Toi.

"Thank you for having me," she tells the taller man.

"Thank you for making him happy," he tells her as she steps back. "It was hard having the boys at odds for so long." Penelope shakes her head before coming to stand before Mike and opens her arms in order to hug the man.

"Call if you need anything," she tells him softly. He nods his head against her shoulder before she steps back and feels Luke's hand wrap around her waist.

"I should probably tell you that we go camping every July because Luke won't tell you," Mike tells her.

"Camping," she squeaks while looking at her boyfriend. "You expect me to camp?" Luke laughs and looks down at her with a grin.

"Don't worry North Star," he laughs. "I'll teach you everything I know." He guides her to the door while carrying her suitcase, laughing while she continues to freak out about camping in a few short months. When they reach the curb Penelope turns back and waves wildly at the family gathered in the doorway to the brownstone before sliding into the waiting taxi. Roxy jumps onto the seat and places her head in Penelope's lap with a yawn and sliding her eyes closed.

"Camping Luke," she asks him as he climbs into the taxi. "You really expect me to go camping?"

"Yes," he tells her. "It's only for three days and I'll make sure we get a campsite with electricity for you, deal?"

Penelope glares at the man while crossing her arms over her chest, "sure," she finally says crossly. Luke chuckles before leaning over and kissing her temple.

"I love you," he tells her softly as the taxi pulls away from the curb. "So much."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I wanted to say thank you so much for reading this story. It was only supposed to be Mistletoe Kisses and that was supposed to be the end of it. But I created an OC and then another and then another and then it snowballed from there. 
> 
> I thought I was in over my head around Chapter 2 when I couldn’t see where this was headed, and then I introduced Lisa and Charlie and I was screaming at myself to fucking stop, but did I listen? No, of course, I didn’t because I like the pain of sleepless nights and 5,000-word chapters, and falling asleep with my face on the laptop and waking up to just 50,000 letter Gs on a word document because that’s where my lip ring hit first. 
> 
> Anyway, long story short, this is for all of you who keep me going with your praise. There wouldn’t be a me without you. Well there would, I’m still a person, but there wouldn’t be a me (the Garvez writer) without you (the Garvez readers).
> 
> I love you all. 
> 
> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

"That was the longest drive of my life," Penelope moans as she steps out of the vehicle before helping Roxy down the steps. "I never want to do that again." She can hear him chuckling as he walks around to the trunk and pulls her suitcase from the depths. Luke extends his left hand to the woman and wiggles his fingers until she slides her own into his grasp.

"I'd live my entire life inside this last week with you," Luke replies to her complaint. "Except I'd lock the door." Penelope can't help but laugh loudly as she removes her keys from her purse and jingles them in her free hand as they continue their slow crawl to her apartment. She was already dreading having to say goodbye to him for the evening, in the short time they had spent together, the woman had already gotten used to falling asleep next to him. He was an excellent heater for those particularly cold New York nights. Shaking her head, Penelope lets the thoughts clear from her mind as they walk the short distance to her apartment door. And as familiar as he had become, the sight of her home is even more familiar as she walks through the door and inhales deeply.

"I'm going to miss you tonight," she tells him. Bending down the woman greets Sergio with an affectionate scratch behind the ears and peels her coat from her body before stretching her arms above her head. "If we're being honest." She feels the heat bloom underneath her skin at her words and realizes for the first time since they had begun dating they were completely alone. The thought causes her to turn away from the man and busy herself with changing out Sergio's water bowl even though she knew that Emily had just delivered the cat home this morning.

"I...we," he points to Roxy across the room. The dog had settled herself on Sergio's small bed and was lazily yawning. "We could stay, if you're feeling lonely.' Penelope pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and nibbles gently. She didn't want to seem to enthusiastic about the prospect of spending the night completely alone with the man, in her own bed to boot. But she also didn't want to seem like being with him wasn't something that she wanted, because it was. She shrugs and nods her head at the same time, both decisive and indecisive at the same time, and confuses even herself. "We can also go home if you want your own space."

Penelope sighs and shakes her head before turning to face her boyfriend, nerves suddenly flaring under her skin as she looks at him. The woman pauses for a second to appreciate the sight of him as he stands nervously in her living room and tries to avoid looking in her direction. If she looked closely enough she could see that his hands are trembling as they pull at his jacket, unsure if he should take it off or keep it on. His eyes are darting around the room, trying to land on something comforting before they finally settle on a picture of her with Henry and Michael with a soft smile. His body is tense yet relaxed, as if he's waiting for her dismissal but her approval at the same time.

"I want you to stay," Penelope finally tells him as she walks around the kitchen counter and embraces him. "I just didn't know if you wanted to stay. Or if it was too soon to ask you to stay." She shrugs and places her head on his chest and listens to the quick beating of his heart. The woman knew exactly what she did to him when it came time for sexual activities but she is still amazed to hear that his heart thumped wildly in his chest when she touched him. It was shocking to her, because sure she was good looking, but he was... _Luke._ And if that didn't explain her anguish and confusion she didn't know any words that could. "Or if you would still want me after New York," she finally admits and tries her hardest not to let a tear slip down her cheek. She knows that she failed miserably when he leans down and presses a kiss to both cheeks and sighs softly.

"I don't think that there has ever been a time when I didn't want you," Luke whispers with his lips against her forehead. And she's comforted by the feeling of his large hand pressing her face into his chest. He curls his fingers against her scalp and scratches lightly. "I meant it when I told you I love you, my Star. I didn't think I'd ever feel this way about another human being. But there you went, shooting through my life and illuminating everything in your path." He chuckles and pulls back from her in order to look down at her face. "How about you open that present I got you," Luke suggests as a distraction.

"I forgot all about it," Penelope whispers.

"I know," Luke chuckles. "That's why I packed it for you. It's in the front pocket." He points to the suitcase sitting by her front door with a wide grin and eyes that seem to twinkle now that she was no longer crying. Penelope retrieves the gift before curling herself into a ball next to him on the couch and relaxes when his arm wraps around her shoulder. "Open it." She can feel the anxious excitement crawling on his skin as she flips the present in her hands and tucks her fingers under the flap slowly. Penelope remembers back to Christmas morning when the grown man had ripped open his presents faster than his niece and nephew in his haste to figure out what was underneath the paper.

"Open yours first," she tells him with a nudge of her shoulders and feels the cool rush of air as he reaches into her suitcase to grab his own present. Much like on Christmas morning the man rips open the package and flips the frame over in his hands, letting out a ragged breath as he stares at the picture.

"Where did you get this," he finally asks as he looks up at her with shining eyes. Penelope looks down at the picture with a soft smile. The picture was of a younger Luke with longer hair and a wide smile holding a very small dog in his arms. But knowing what Penelope knew, about how he had come to acquire Roxy in the first place, and what the dog actually meant to him… She lays her hand on his arm and slides her fingers against his pulse point before shrugging her shoulders.

"I may have done a thing," she tells him softly.

"Thank you," he breathes as he looks back down at the picture. He doesn't take his eyes off of her present as he flicks the box she was currently holding. When she finally does peel the paper away from the actual present, smiling at the fact that he used bright pink wrap for her gift, she's left staring at a black box. "You're killing me, Pen."

She giggles before turning to press her lips to his cheek and with trembling fingers she lifts the lid and gasps as she stares down at the piece of jewelry sitting in the box. A star pendant was sitting delicately on a chain and she finds that she can't stop the tears that form in her eyes as she reaches out for the necklace. "Help me," she finally whispers while handing the necklace to Luke and moving her hair off of her neck. Penelope can feel his hands shaking as he clasps the pendant around her neck, letting the chain fall against her chest before placing a kiss when the clasp fell against her skin. She moans as his lips ignite a flame in her, one that she knew wasn't going to be interrupted this time as she turns to face him. Her hands grip Luke's face roughly and pull his lips to hers as she scrambles into his lap. She doesn't think this time, but instead clears her mind as he quickly slides his hands beneath her shirt and drags his palms up her back to unhook her bra.

She can feel him straining against his pants as he growls and moves to peel her shirt off of her body, his lips immediately latching onto her breasts when they came into his view. She moans, loud and without abandon as he touches her, and lets her hips rock quickly against him as she slides herself closer to the man, wanting nothing more than to finish what they had started so many times this week. And before she knows it, she's naked and panting beneath him on her living room floor. He had kicked her coffee table out of the way before sliding the both of them off of the couch and laying her down gently before leaning back on his knees to remove his shirt and unfasten his pants. And she tries not to giggle when he falls over in his haste to get them off. But when he lines himself up and pauses for a moment, as if waiting for the inevitable interruption, Penelope holds her breath before lifting her hips and sliding herself onto him.

She feels whole and stretched so deliciously that Penelope isn't even sure that she needs to continue living because surely everything else she ever wanted to do in life has now paled in comparison. They rock together, moving so seamlessly through the motions that they had been denied and with each thrust, Penelope is sure that she's dreaming because life isn't allowed to go this well. Not for her at least, and there's a ringing in her head and it takes her a while to realize that it's their phones going off and she rolls her eyes when she recognizes the ringtone. And without missing a beat Luke leans over to the coffee table, his hips still rolling into hers and pulls his phone to his ear.

"Alvez," he growls and Penelope closes her eyes and concentrates on not screaming out his name from the way he was slowly sliding himself into her. She can feel every inch as he drags himself out of her dripping sex. And the way he was moving his hips as he bottoms out once again was causing the woman to see stars and she can taste blood as she bites down on her lip to contain the moan she desperately needed to release. "Yeah, we'll be there...just give us ten minutes because we literally just got back into town." Luke pulls back again and slams himself forward causing Penelope to open her eyes and stare at him. His eyes had darkened as he watched her breasts bounce on her chest and moves to hold the phone between his ear and his shoulder before gripping onto her thighs and dragging her body closer to him. He tilts her legs back and hovers his body over her with his left hand while reaching forward to rub circles against her clit, never ceasing the movement of his hips. "Understood Prentiss, we're on our way..." and with a growl he tosses the phone onto the couch.

Penelope finally lets his nickname drag from her lips so loudly that she's sure she has shattered the window panes all around the apartment and let's herself go around him. Her walls clenching so hard around him that the man can't control the speed or rhythm at which he's moving his hips any longer.

* * *

 

Penelope grips his hand tightly in her own in the elevator, remembering the kiss that started everything before dropping her hand from his as the doors open around them. They're both greeted with smiling faces, whispers, and a few giggles from JJ as she leans in to whisper something to Matt. She thinks nothing of it as they walk quickly through the bullpen, and pause for Luke to deposit the picture she had given him onto the surface before they enter the conference room and take their seats around the table.

"I apologize," Emily finally mutters as she leans over to Luke. "I didn't know that I was interrupting something." Luke stares at his boss in confusion and Penelope quickly darts her eyes around the room, noticing the smiles, and laughs, and averted gazes from the other people on the team.

"You might want to make sure that you disconnect the call next time, Luuuuuuu," Rossi says before laughing so loud Penelope is sure he cracked a rib. Her face turns red, the heat behind her cheeks hotter than she had ever felt it before in her life as she tosses the remote onto the table and begins to walk out of the room.

"Chica," Luke calls after her as she makes it to the stairs outside of the office. "Where are you going?

"There's a bridge a few miles from here," Penelope tells him. "I'm going to go see if I can safely jump off of it."

_The End._

 


End file.
